


The Queen's Daughter:  Operation Swan

by Rioghna



Series: The Queen's Daughter [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Retelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 19:24:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 24
Words: 39,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6718642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Sequal to "The Queen's Daughter".  Now that Cora knows the truth, she can't just let it lie.  Rumplestiltskin is more than willing to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sneaking

Operation Swan

 

Cora (Emma, my name is Emma) Mills peered around the corner then snuck into the back door of Mr. Gold's Pawn and Antiques. She could have probably gone in the front but recently, she'd been feeling like her mother was watching her even more closely than ever. Besides, she had seen that creepy Sidney Glass on Main Street and she was certain he was following her.

"Miss Mills, breaking and entering, dearie?" Mr. Gold, no, Rumplestiltskin, said from his position by the curtain.

"The door was unlocked, so I didn't break anything, and I asked you not to call me that," she snapped.

She was coming to terms with everything. When he'd first told her, she'd accused him of lying, of making up stories and treating her like a baby, and then she'd rushed out of the shop, leaving the blanket behind. Cora had managed to stay away for two days, telling her mother ( _step grandmother_ , a voice that sounded a lot like Gold kept reminding her), that she didn't feel good and spent two days in her room hiding and crying. She wanted to hate him. She had most definitely called him a whole list of things, her mother would have grounded her for. The problem was, she knew he _wasn't_ lying, no matter how much she wished he was. It was her own special superpower, knowing if someone was lying, and Gold have never lied to her.

After the two days, she had snuck back. "All right, Rumplestiltskin," she had said. "Tell me everything." Thus 'Operation Swan' was born.

"Why Swan?" Gold had asked.

"I don't know," Emma shrugged. "It just feels right. What would you call it? Something like Cobra or something. That sounds like something from GI Joe, or a spy movie. That's the kind of thing a boy would come up with."

It had taken time. He told her the whole story, or at least as much as he thought she needed to know. Even she knew that. But he was right, there was something about Miss Blanchard, she wasn't sure exactly what, but it was familiar, as if she was looking at her differently all of a sudden. Miss Blanchard had always been kind to her, but there seemed to be something more there.

"But where is my father?" she had asked. " _Who_ is my father?" she'd demanded.

"You mean besides Prince Charming, well, Prince David, I suppose. Technically.  I haven't seen him around town. Since the curse was not meant to be broken for twenty eight years, but that was before..." Gold paused, thinking. "Of course everything changes with one small change, and you are that change...This is what you need to do..."

So Cora had been out and about, looking everywhere she could. It seemed the closer she looked though, the stranger things were. The way things always seemed the same, Marco always fixing the sign over the hardware shop, or Archie Hopper losing track of Pongo when he treed a squirrel. The same things, the same time. But as soon as Gold had opened her eyes, things seemed a little different, little tiny changes. Then Miss Blanchard had taken them to volunteer at the hospital.

"So tell me, what shall I call you? Miss Blanchard is not appropriate and the Enchanted Forest didn't run to surnames, so what is it to be? Princess Emma? And why, pray tell, are you sneaking into my back door instead of just coming to the front?"

"Sidney Glass was spying on me, creeping around. I ditched him over at Granny's. Ruby is cool though. She gets the over protective parent thing. Plus, she doesn't like my mom, or Sidney either,". Emma said.

"Of course she doesn't. Ruby is one of your true mother's closest friends and allies. But tell me what you have discovered. Did you find the Charming Prince?" he asked with just a bit of a smile.

Emma rolled her eyes. "You don't like him much, do you?"

"I don't _dislike_ him," he said. "Now tell me what you..." The bell in the front of the shop rang and Emma looked up, startled. Gold put a finger to his lips, and Emma nodded as he tapped his way to the front of the shop. "Coming," he growled.

 

Sidney Glass walked into the pawnshop. It wasn't his first choice or the first place he looked, either. Why would Cora Mills be in Gold's though? He cursed, but he'd promised Regina he would keep an eye on her. Some how she seemed to think that young Cora was up to something. Privately, Sidney thought that maybe Cora was up to something _because_ Regina had him keeping an eye on her, but what did he know about children. He didn't even _like_ children.

"Mr. Glass, to what do I owe the pleasure? Buying, selling? Or have you come to pay your rent early?" he asked. Sidney looked uneasy, but then the man only had two expressions since his conversion, uneasy and supercilious.

"I...um...I'm just looking for a gift for..."

"For our beloved Mayor perhaps?" Gold asked with a smile. "Ah yes, except that her birthday is in...six months," Gold reminded him sharply. "Now what are you really after?"

"I thought you would let me do a story on the shop," he improvised. "Just a little...human interest story. You have a lot of..."

"I _have_ a lot of work to do, so if you don't want your rent up for review, I suggest that you leave me to get on with it. I have less than no interest in gracing the pages of your little glorified bird cage liner, so unless you have something else I would be interested in..." A harsh whistle came from the back room.

"Who else is here?" the magic mirror asked, startled. He rushed around the counter and pushed through the curtain. Gold followed, hiding a smile. It was better than having the man creeping around after all.

"That would be my tea," he said, stepping around the other man to turn off the electric kettle. The room was, as usual, cluttered but clean and empty, of people anyway. Glass looked at him and then turned and fled.

"Come out, come out, Princess," Rumplestiltskin called. She was a clever girl. There was the sound of scuffling from beneath the bed in the corner. "Have a cup of tea and tell me what you've found."

"Miss Blanchard took us to the hospital. We were helping brighten up the place, decorating and doing little things to help the patients. She wants to encourage us to be active in the community, whatever that means. Anyway, there is a man in the hospital who is in a coma. No one knows his name and no one has ever come to see him, or looking for him,". Emma said.

"Very good, very astute, care to describe him?" Gold asked.

"I can do better than that," she said with a smile. "Graham says I'm a natural, and maybe I can be a deputy when I grow up. He gives me mysteries to read when..." She looked down. There were some things she just couldn't say. "But I took a picture. It's a feature on my new cell phone.  My mom expects me to keep it with me all the time. You know what he looks like. If it's him, then we can make a plan."


	2. Book, book, whose got the book?

"What's that?" Regina Mills asked as she walked into her daughter's bedroom. Cora was flopped on her stomach on the bed, feet in the air, looking as if she had just thrown herself down there. She had a small hole in the sole of one sneaker. No matter what she tried, getting her daughter to dress like a lady had been a failure. Maybe when she was older. For all that it had started as an act of revenge, Regina found that she couldn't imagine her life without the child.  

Oh, it hadn't been easy, not at all. Cora had fretted and cried for days at first, and Regina would never forget the day that she had been trying to soothe her when Gold had been there for business.

"Good God, have you never held a babe before?" he'd snapped before taking the child from her, quieting her in moments where Regina had been trying for hours. Then he'd demonstrated how to do it. It had been a little embarrassing, but at least no one else had been around. She preferred her dealings with Gold in private.

"Book," Cora replied, breaking her mother's reverie. "I might do a book report. We get extra credit for each book report."

"Do you _need_ extra credit?" Regina asked.

"Not really," the girl said with a shrug. "But you know, just in case. Why don't we have a library?"

"You do have one, at school."

"Yes, but it's small and kind of pathetic. I mean, why don't we have a town library? Why do we have one that's closed?" Cora asked, turning just a little.

"The library is closed because the librarian died and we don't have anyone else trained for the job. Besides, Mr. Gold owns the building, so the city would have to rent it from him as well as pay a new librarian."

"Hmmmmm," Cora nodded, clearly thinking up some plan or another. Regina knew her daughter.

"Cora Ann Mills, whatever you are thinking, forget it."

"But Mom..."

"Don't 'but mom' me. I don't want you anywhere near Gold. That man is a twisted monster and can't be trusted." For a moment it looked like she was going to argue, but then she just closed off.

"Fine, can I go back to my book then?" Regina wanted to do something, to make her daughter not look at her like...well, like she had looked at her own mother, who she'd named her for. But she didn't know how. Her mother had hardly been a role model. _Maybe cookies_ , she thought.

"Yes, you read your book and I'll...I'll think about..." Over Cora's shoulder, she could see the illustration on the page, see her own face staring back. Not knowing what to do, she fled.

 

"Gold," Regina Mills spit his name out the moment she stepped through the door.

"Go, quickly," he whispered to the man in his back room, before stepping toward the curtain. "I'm not deaf, dearie," he called out.

"Good afternoon, Mayor Mills," he said as he tapped his way from the back room to stand behind the counter, watching as she strode through the crowded shop. _Ahhh, her best Evil Queen strut_ , he thought irreverently, hiding his smile. _This should be interesting_. "So, to what do I owe the...pleasure of this call?"

Regina stopped at the counter and dropped a heavy book down with a *thud*. Gold looked at it mildly. "Buying or selling, or do you have other business?" he asked quietly.

"That's what I want to know. Did you sell this...garbage to my daughter?"

" _Once Upon a Time,_ " he said, reading the gold embossed cover. He touched the book...magic, he could still feel it, just like when Cora had first brought it in. Gold examined the book carefully, front and back before looking at her, as if he'd never seen it before. "It's interesting enough, probably a custom printing, but I hate to disappoint you. I've never sold your daughter anything, and I've never sold this book before. Not the sort of thing I usually carry. It was probably made as a present for someone, though there is no inscription. Not much market, unless it's very old or very unique. But I can honestly say, I have no idea where it came from."

"Honest, you?" Regina sneered.

"No need to be insulting. I never tell anything but the truth, Miss Mills, you know that," Gold said, staring her in the eye.

"Yes, but you never tell the whole truth, do you?" she growled.

"Now, now," he said. "You wound me." He put a hand to his heart and gave her his best almost innocent look, destroyed by a sneer.

"I doubt that. If you know nothing, then I will..." She reached for the book.

"If young Cora had this book, how did you get it? Stealing from your own daughter, tsk tsk."

"I didn't steal it," Regina brushed his words aside. "I took it from her backpack. I was afraid she might have stolen it from you."

"You don't trust your own daughter? Invading her privacy, and stealing her things, then. I've never taken the girl for a thief."

"I didn't, I just..." She hated it when he got her tongue tied.

"Well, it's not mine. If you take my advice, you will stop holding her so tight. It's a sure way of driving her away," Gold told her, this time very serious.

"When I want parenting advice, I'll ask...anyone but you," Regina snapped bitterly, grabbing up the book. She turned on her heel and started to stamp towards the door.

"Why don't you leave the book here? I'll find a way to get it back to young Cora, make sure she thinks she lost it."

"As if I would trust you anywhere near my daughter, and why would you do that? What's in it for you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Call it a favour, I'll add it to your tab. I am perfectly serious, Regina, you don't want to lose her. _Please_."

"What do you know?" she asked sharply as she stepped back to the counter and set the book down with a suspicious look.

"I know what it is to lose a child."

"Make sure," she said, leaving. Gold smiled at her retreating back.

 

"Mom..." Cora called as she rushed into her mother's office, breathing heavily. "Mom." They had planned it all very carefully, she and Mr. Gold. She wasn't sure she trusted him, especially having read the book, well part of it. He had said she should start with the stories about herself, or at least her parents, and she had a load of questions, only some of which she had gotten to ask today. But his plan was a good one.

"Cora, what have I told you about running around like that? And why are you late?" Regina asked sharply.

"I'm sorry Mom, but I want to tell you what happened," she said. "My bag. I was coming around the corner from Granny's after Paige and I finished studying, and it just tore open. My stuff was all over Main Street! I thought I was going to lose my math homework, I had to chase it down the street, but Doctor Hopper caught it. Look," she exclaimed, shoving the torn bag across the desk.

"What did you do?" Regina asked, looking at the open seem in the bottom of the bag.

"I didn't _do_ anything," Cora said, rolling her eyes. "It just ripped, right in front of every one. That big guy, the one who works for Mr. Gold, he was out, and he went and got a bag from the shop for my stuff. He doesn't say much, kind of strange."

Regina looked at the pile of books papers, pencils and other things that her daughter was pulling out of the plastic carry bag. She wondered if her daughter had even noticed the book was missing in that lot. "What's this?" she asked, pulling a paper from the pile with an official letterhead on it.

"Oh good. I wasn't sure I hadn't lost it when the papers blew away, but I was more worried about my homework, especially since I already finished it. It's my permission slip for volunteering at the hospital. It's only the one afternoon a week, taking flowers around and that kind of thing. Miss Blanchard says it looks good on your college application and instills a sense of community...something."

"Yes well, it's a little early for that..." Regina started. "It's a little early to start worrying about college, that is."

"It's never too early, that's what you said," Cora replied. Her mother was a pain, but the 'it's good for college' excuse was a good one.

"I suppose if it's only one day a week, " Regina agreed reluctantly. If it kept Cora distracted from the disappearance and reappearance of the book, it was probably for the best. Regina would never admit it, ever, but the twisted little imp was right, she was doing exactly the sorts of things that had driven her completely crazy with her own mother, things that had only festered and gotten worse as she had gotten older. Just a little leeway, what could it hurt?

"Thanks, Mom. Paige and I can go together, she's volunteering too. She's going to ask her mom tonight." Regina nodded. Paige, or Grace, was one of her daughter's few close friends, and the parents Regina had put her with kept a good eye on her, allowing the Evil Queen to keep a certain half mad portal jumper on his leash. As long as she had Grace close, he would jump when she said to. It also meant she could count on Cora's safety with them. They owed her for her 'help' with their adoption.

"All right, tell Paige's mother if she takes you two, I will pick you up, do we agree?"

Cora rolled her eyes, but it was all for show. Everything was going to plan. Her mother had done exactly as Gold said she would. "Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for those of you who are reading this odd little tale. Guesses on who Gold has in his back room? Please do that thing, where you put words in the box to tell me how I'm doing.


	3. What lies beneath

"Mr. Gold, are you there?" Cora called out as she knocked as hard as she could on the back door of the pink Victorian house. She looked around carefully, watching every movement and every shadow. She had snuck out her window while her mother and the sheriff were doing whatever they were doing that she didn't want to think about.

"All right, I'm coming." She heard Gold growl from within. "No need to wake the whole neighbourhood." He opened the door and the look on his face turned from annoyance to surprise. "Emma," he said, curiously. Of course, he was, she'd never come to his house before, no one came to the house or almost no one. "Best come in quickly before anyone sees you." Gold stepped back, to allow her to pass. He was wearing a fancy bathrobe over what were probably pajamas. "Tea?" he offered, moving to the kettle while she looked around, unable to resist a glimpse of where Gold lived.

"I don't have a lot of time, I snuck out while Mom was...busy." She blushed.

"Ah, our ever so diligent sheriff is making a house call, but I'm almost certain that is _not_ what is so important that you came here."

  
"No. Something is weird at the hospital."

"The chief of staff is Frankenstein, so you will have to be a little more specific, dearie."

"Well, after David woke up last week, is he really my father?"

"Yes, he is. We've done that one already, dearie, now focus. You don't want to get caught out."

"Okay, well, I stayed on volunteering. It's kind of fun, and I get to hang out with Paige. Anyway, I kept noticing something. People go into one of the supply closets, only they don't... like go in and come out. Sometimes they come out too, but without carrying anything. Also, Storybrooke General is a really small hospital, but I've seen this nurse come and go out of there, but she doesn't work on any of the wards."

"That is odd, I agree, but..."

"Listen," Cora said urgently. "So today Paige and I were pushing the cart back to the front desk, and I saw my mom. I started to say something, because I figured she was early. But then she went around the corner and I saw her go into that same supply closet."

"Now, that is interesting," Gold agreed.

"That's not even the most interesting thing. So, I got Paige to go look. She doesn't know anything because I can't explain, but she does know I think my mom is doing something funny. Anyway, she went into the closet and Mom wasn't there. It was empty. That's kind of big, right?"

"It is, very big. It looks like your mother is hiding something else." Gold said thoughtfully.

"So what do we do now?" the girl asked. She was brave, just like her parents.

"What you do is go home, before your mother realises you are gone...."

"But..." He held up a hand.

"I need to think about this. Never ever, Princess Emma, do anything without a plan," he told her. "Now, you go home and I will see you at the usual time."

Moments after she left, a dark haired young man with blue eyes, stepped into the kitchen from behind the cellar door.

"Well, go do your duty," the pawnbroker said sharply, and the young man was gone, which was how he preferred it. He didn't want the young man here, but there was little enough he could do about it. Strangers did not happen in Storybrooke, ever, and he couldn't let Regina know that the curse was failing, not yet.

 

A week ago, he'd come into town, well, snuck really. Gold had caught him trying to break into the pawnshop. It had been well after hours. It wasn't an unusual thing, it was not as if his house was any more than an empty shell for keeping his stuff. He had been working on a few details when he heard the scratching of lock picks.

"The shop is closed, dearie and entry is generally gained by the front door," Gold said, the small, deadly black pistol pointed at the young man's head. "Now, step inside and give me a reason why I should not call the sheriff."

"I'm sorry man, I was just looking for..."

"I think not. As far as I know, and I would know, only two people can enter Storybrooke at the moment, and you are not one of them, which means...How did you manage to get into town, Pinnochio?" he asked, waving him towards a chair.

It was a simple enough story, really. He had gone first, hidden in the wardrobe. When the guards had trapped Prince David, he'd slammed the door, and Pinnochio had found himself somewhere else. In the new world, he'd waited, stolen food, hidden. After a week, he'd been caught stealing from the bins behind the restaurant. The owner was nice to him, but she had called the police. He had explained to them that he was waiting, he'd got separated from his father and baby sister, and he had to stay.

In the end, the restaurant owner fostered him. He worked in the place, and he'd kept watch. "It's not too far outside the town line, just down the county road. I kept up though. I'd check to see if I could get through. I know where it is, I can feel it. Then, today, I just...I walked through. Went back and got my motorcycle. I thought the curse must be weakening and I could find out what happened. I was afraid if I got too far away, that the magic..." The young man paused.

"Yes, faithful and true, or whatever other conditions the Blue Fairy put on you," Gold agreed. "Well, the Princess is here, now we just have to figure out what to do with you."

But he couldn't exactly trust him, he called himself August Booth these days, to go or to stay and hide. The lad had a duty, imposed by the Blue Fairy, to protect the princess. The best he could do was use him. Unfortunately that meant hiding him under his roof, though part of him had considered having him walk down Main Street, just to give Regina a start, but at the moment, while she might be suspicious of him, she was certain that the curse was still in force, and the longer that she thought that, the better for them all. Unfortunately, the only place that Gold had to keep him where he could be useful was his house. The damned lad reeked of fairy magic, the sorcerer could smell it on him, but there was nothing else to do. He just hoped it wouldn't last much longer. But with this new development, who knew. Now he just needed to plan his next move. How to break into the hospital and find out what Regina was hiding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who are reading. This is coming closer to being a RumBelle story all the time. Please read, and leave a comment.


	4. Unexpected Meetings

Cora figured she was home free when she got to her house. The lights were all out except the one in the kitchen that stayed on, and if her mom knew she was missing she would completely lose it. Regina would kill her. Well, okay, not kill her, despite knowing that her mother was the Evil Queen (adopted mother, she reminded herself), she wouldn't go that far. Cora was pretty sure she loved her, at least a little. But she would totally ground her until she was in high school. Still, she snuck across the yard and was halfway up the ivy to her window when her luck ran out, and she ran into someone coming the opposite way, down the wall. It was Graham, the sheriff, and he looked as surprised as she was.

At first she thought he was going to call for her mother but instead, he motioned for her to go back down to the ground and marched her into the garden away from the house. "What were you doing sneaking out?" the sheriff demanded nervously.

"I wasn't sneaking out, I was sneaking back in, obviously," Cora sparked at him. She knew she had him. "I could ask you the same thing, you know."

"I was just..." He stopped and tried to figure out what to say.

"Don't bother, I know about you and my mom. It's not hard to figure out."

"It's not what you think," Graham tried to explain. He was miserably embarrassed, though he had no reason to be, really. Okay, there was the whole caught sneaking out the window thing, but after all, neither of them was married or anything. Perhaps if Regina didn't insist on sneaking around, if they ever went on a date or had dinner or...

"I don't need to know. Honestly, I don't," Cora said. "But how do you think I knew the vines would hold? I wasn't doing anything bad though. I just realised that I needed to give Paige something."

"Something that was important enough to sneak out at night without telling your mother?" Graham asked skeptically.

"Yeah. I accidentally got her math book when we were together studying. It has her homework in it, and she freaked out on the phone. We don't have the same sheets. Our desks are together, so we can't copy, and we're supposed to be studying for a quiz in the morning."

The sheriff didn't look convinced, but he'd always been fond of Cora, she was smart and kind, just the sort of daughter he would like to have if he ever... He shook those thoughts away. It wasn't as if there were any candidates and he and Regina, well that was complicated. He didn't love her, some days he didn't even _like_ her. He thought she was too controlling of Cora as well. But it was almost a compulsion, Regina called and he answered. "All right," he said finally, just to cover his own confused thoughts. "Just this once, but don't let me catch you doing it again," he said, trying for sharp.

"I won't," Cora told him smiling. _Let you catch me,_ she added to herself. "You are the best, Graham. You and my mom, that's okay too," she added. "You know, as long as I don't have to watch you kissing and stuff."

"That's..." he started, not sure what to say to that.

"It could be much worse, like Sidney Glass, or Mr. Gold, or something," she explained with a shrug. Then, impulsively, she landed up and kissed his whiskery cheek. "Thanks," she said as she headed towards the wall, and the ivy.

Graham stood touching his cheek and trying to figure out why her daughter's permission didn't make him feel any better about he and Regina. He had always assumed that her insistence on complete secrecy was because of her daughter, but knowing that Cora knew and was at least accepting made him feel...wrong somehow.

 

"Something weird happened at the house," August said as he came in to find Gold at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

"And what was that?" the man asked.

"She got caught."

"The Evil Queen?" he asked. That could be awkward, especially if she got grounded just when they needed to find out what it was that Regina was hiding at the hospital.

"No, a man. He came out of a window, was climbing down as she climbed up. They met in the middle. Then he took her into the garden and talked to her for a few minutes and she climbed back up. I didn't recognise him."

"The Queen's Huntsman," Gold said with a sneer. "Regina's worst kept secret. He's an honourable man, more's the pity. The Queen has his heart."

"He's in love with her?" The young man asked with a grimace.

"She is a beautiful woman, but no, I meant that literally, dearie. He has no will but her's. He'll not betray young Emma though, not unless the Queen asks him directly. Now, we have a break in to plan as soon as the final conspirator arrives. You may very well find yourself home sooner than expected, if only for the shock value."

 

It was close to midnight when a quiet knock came at the back door of the pink house. The man August admitted had dark hair and a slightly manic look about him. "You've found another conspirator in our cause, Rumple, old man," the man said. "The wooden boy has grown, but it's to be expected of those who, unlike us, are not damned to live in a glass bubble."

"You are late," the sorcerer snapped. "I'd like to get this over with and I've to open the shop tomorrow. Nothing can look out of the ordinary."

"Since when did that bother you? You don't sleep as I recall. I got...lost for a little bit. It's better now that the swan princess has awakened but..."

"Yes, but each step is one closer," Gold told him.

August just stood there in surprise. He had no idea who the man was, or how he knew who the former puppet was. But it was the almost compassionate way the Dark One spoke to him that was even stranger.

Admittedly, the last thing August had expected when he came to town was an ally in the person of Rumplestiltskin. Actually, he was surprised he'd been allowed to live. When he had tried to break into Gold's shop, he'd been looking for something, the dagger, an object rumored to control him, to compel the sorcerer to help him. It hadn't been the best plan, but he couldn't figure out anyone else to help and he'd been watching. He had guessed, rightly, that Gold was awake, and seeing the young girl sneaking in and out of the shop, had recognised that she must be the princess, and the catalyst to his ability to pass in and out of town.

Now they just need to break the curse, much earlier than expected. Gold had assured him that Emma's awakening meant that was possible, though he didn't understand the how or why of it, and the sorcerer wasn't exactly offering up explanations. But he had no choice but trust the imp, for now.

"Pinnochio, or August rather, this is Jefferson, portal jumper, realm hopper, and, unfortunately for Regina, the one person in town that the curse has only a limited hold on," Gold said by way of introduction.

  
"Only on alternate Thursdays, and random tea times," Jefferson added with a manic grin.

"Why is that?" August asked.

"Oh, that's simple enough. It's because I'm mad. Now, what is it that you have in mind, Rumple?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this. I was starting to think people weren't interested. Please do all the usual things. Yes, now you can see some of the plan coming together.


	5. Twisted on Destiny

August Booth tied his bag to the back of his motorcycle and prepared to leave town. Not that he would be gone long. Actually, he wasn't so much leaving as sneaking around to enter town properly, this time with as much fanfare as possible. Where Emma, well, 'Cora', could 'notice' him, though what little he knew of the Evil Queen's mother, he was surprised that she had named her daughter after her, even an adopted daughter, and had said as much to Rumplestiltskin.

"It was always a complicated relationship," he'd said with an enigmatic smile that spoke of knowing more than he was saying. Of course, Rumplestiltskin _always_ knew more than he said. "Besides, she could hardly name her...Henrietta." The imp had laughed at that, though why, he didn't know.

Now he was getting ready to do his part. It was a simple plan, really and he was the distraction. August had tried to ask some more questions, but the sorcerer answered none of them. He would answer nothing unless it served, and clearly, it didn't. But then August was a pawn and he knew it, he'd always known it.

He kicked the motorcycle to life and road off. The sooner he finished his duty, the sooner they got this all sorted, the sooner he could be reunited with his father and then, maybe, he could actually figure out what he was going to do with the rest of his life, free of his burden.

 

Jefferson was in the corner of the hospital supply closet, hiding and holding on hard to his sanity. "This is for Grace," he whispered to himself over and over like a mantra. It wasn't easy though. The closet was dark and warm and reminded him of things best forgotten, of Wonderland and...Regina, her betrayal, revenge, now those were thoughts to keep him going.

After all, this was a step forward. Rumplestiltskin was right, he had lots of experience and a special talent for getting in to places he wasn't supposed to be. Besides, he went frequently unnoticed, whereas the wooden boy was a stranger, and Rumplestiltkin was well known for his hatred of the hospital and its administrator. Short of pretending an injury, half the hospital would be watching him, probably especially if he pretended an injury.

The door opened and a nurse who looked as if she had swallowed a lemon, whole, peel and all, came into the closet, looking around carefully to make sure she was alone. Then she uncovered the key pad he had discovered in his initial search. That was more like it.

 

Rumplestiltskin was carefully sweeping the walk in front of his shop, not a particularly unusual thing for him to do in the middle of the afternoon, when the motorbike came down Main Street.

The old sorcerer smiled a little. He wished he could keep an eye on Jefferson for this. Not only was he concerned with the Hatter's mental state, which was always precarious, though less so since Emma, but he wanted to know what his former pupil was hiding. That it would help the cause, of that he was certain. He knew it in his bones, just as he knew now was the time to strike. But there was nothing he could do about that.

Young Mister Booth pulled up in front of the diner just as Cora and Paige, (keeping up with their names in this world was getting difficult and tedious now), come down the sidewalk from school.

"Cool bike, Mister," the Princess said, while Paige tugged at her to keep going.

"Thanks kid. Good food?" he asked nodding towards Granny's.

"Best burgers in town," she said.

"Only burgers in town," Paige commented, then realised she'd been overheard, she added, "they're good though, really good. We just..." Then she stopped.

"It's a small town," Cora filled in. "But it is good." She waved him in.

 _That performance is bound to get back to Regina and bring her running_ , Gold thought with a smug smile. He could see Sidney trying to hide that he was spying on the girl. Gold was considering adding his own ammunition to the fire when he realised the genie had his cell phone out already. Looked like that part of the plan was well in hand. Now he just had to wait for Jefferson to report in with what he had found.

He had taken the broom back in and was wiping the front windows down when he heard the screech of tires as Regina sped into the street and went straight for the front of the diner, pulling the little black Mercedes into a space at a speed that would definitely earn her a ticket from the sheriff had she not been forcing the man to share her bed. This would be interesting. It almost made him wish he ever went to the diner willingly, or not when he didn't have a reason to.

 

Everything was going according to plan, at least, it looked like it was. Cora and Paige plopped themselves down at the counter with their bags and August Booth took a stool two down from them. "Hey Ruby," Cora said.

"The usual?" the dark haired waitress asked as she dashed by, tray in one hand.

"Yeah," Cora replied.

"Extra whipped cream," Paige added. "It's been a long day. That quiz was _brutal_."

"What about you?" Ruby asked the stranger with a bit of a smile.

"Hamburger?" he asked the girls.

"Hamburger," they agreed in unison.

"They're right," Ruby added. "We do a great burger."

"I'll take the recommendation then," August replied. "I'm new to town."

"Thinking of staying long?" the waitress asked, writing up a ticket.

"I don't know. I graduated from school in the fall, thought I would see the country before I decided what to do next. I've been kind of working my way around, just kind of seeing things, picking up skills...whatever comes. So, is there a place to stay here?"

"Funny you should mention that..."

 

It hadn't taken quite as long as Jefferson had thought. It took very little time for him to get through the door, coming up quietly behind the orderly who went through before the door closed behind him. He'd watched the other man deliver coffee to the nurse behind the desk, and then, while the two of them went off to medicate the patients, he'd done a little medicating of his own with their unattended coffee. They would never even notice, or remember. Free to wander, he liberated a set of keys and set off to see what was behind door number one.

 

Regina Mills rushed into the diner cursing herself. Stranger never came to Storybrooke, it was a fact. At least it had always been true before. The question was, how and why, not to mention who? It wasn't like she could ask anyone, or at least, she didn't think there was. This had to be the imp's doing, or, if not, he had to know what was happening.

 _If he is himself,_ a voice reminded her. _What if he doesn't remember?_ But she couldn't think about that, not right now. Right now, she needed to know who the stranger was and how he got to town. She didn't like change, not when her curse was going so very well. Granted, it was a bit dull, but she had Cora and there was Graham, at least he was a good way to pass the time. Even the unexpected waking of David from his coma had, thus far, not caused any more than a very little bit of disturbance. Damn the man for not taking the backstory she had written him. After meeting his wife, rather than accepting, he had moved into Granny's, saying he needed to figure out who he was. But she had seen him have dinner with Kathryn last week, soon he would believe the entire thing, and the insipid princess would still be alone. But that had nothing to do with the current situation. One thing at a time.

"Cora, what are you doing?" Regina asked, as she rushed into the diner in what was, for her, unseemly haste.

"The same thing I do ever afternoon, Mom," she said, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Except for Thursday's. Drinking Cocoa and doing homework."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long. I've been out of town and didn't get a lot of writing done. With luck, this weekend will see more story, and a little something special. Please remember to leave a comment in the little box.


	6. Surprise

 Jefferson didn't know how to react to his discovery, but he knew one thing for certain, it was _not_ going to end well. But right at the moment, what he needed was a plan. The problem was, he had very few choices and none of them were good. Plans were more Rumplestiltskin's area of expertise, not that of a half mad portal hopper. It looked like he was going to have to improvise.

 

"I thought you were coming to my office," Regina said, trying to be casual about it.

"Yeah, _afterward_." Cora was playing it well. "So what are you doing, spying on me?"

"No dear, I just..." Regina paused. She was caught, she knew it, now she needed to find a way out of it. "Heard you were talking to a stranger."

"Your daughter and her friend were just offering me advice on what to order here," August interjected. "I'm new to town."

"Oh?" Regina said. "I'm Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke, and you are?" she asked. She looked the young man up and down, but he meant nothing to her. Not that he would, if he was really from outside, he could be anyone, and even if he was from the old world, he would have aged ten years. Regina had certainly not been on a first name basis with any children in the old world. Of course, it could be an accident or a flaw, but for now, she just needed rid of him.

"August, August Booth. I just sort of happened onto...Storybrooke is it? Cool name, by the way. I got lost, I think. I was just driving up the coast. It's nice to meet you, Mayor Mills, and you can't possibly be old enough to be her mother," he said with just a hint of flattery.

 

Gold watched from across the street. Things seemed to be going according to schedule. Regina had gone in and, sometime later, emerged with Cora, probably giving her a lecture on talking to strangers. Of course, Cora had known that would be the likely outcome. Paige was following along, clearly pretending she was somewhere else.

After a few moments, Cora was in the car, pouting, and Paige was refusing a ride home, shaking her head and doing the usual young girl things, or at least he assumed children were no so very different here and now. Then Regina drove off, this time much more sedately. Ten minutes later, Booth came out and took his bag off the bike. If nothing else, he'd got the lad out of his house. Small steps.

 

The afternoon was growing tedious. Gold had little to do in the shop waiting for Jefferson. Finally, a quiet knock on the back door of the shop and he went to answer. "About time, Hatter, I..." He looked at his friend. The man was paler than usual. It was the first sign that something was very wrong. "What's happened? Did you find out what Regina's hiding?"

"Rumplestiltskin, I found what she was hiding yes, and I need you to come with me, not right now, but..." the man trailed off.

"What is it?" he asked sharply.

"I need you to come up to my house and I need you to remain calm." The Hatter had known Rumplestiltskin for longer than he could remember, no surprise, his memory, like his sanity, was more full of holes than a block of cheese, but one thing he knew, the man didn't like surprises, and this was one hell of a surprise.

"Bloody Hell, Jefferson," Gold snapped angrily. "I'm in no mood to play games."

"This is no game, though it could be a game changer. Just do it. I'll get word to Booth, we will need the boy." It wasn't like Jefferson to stand up to the sorcerer like that, that alone convinced Gold that it was serious and so was he.

"I'll come as soon as I close up," Gold said.

"It would be best. Nothing more out of the ordinary for the day," the man said, sounding...saner than usual.

 

Booth answered the knock on the door with a certain amount of concern. Seeing who was standing there didn't help. He hustled the mad man into his room, checked the hall and then closed and locked the door."

"How..."

"I told you I'm good at going unnoticed. I will need you to join Rumplestiltskin at my house after he closes up. Expect it will give them time to search your room as well, so be careful what you leave," the man said.

"You found something," Booth accused.

"Yes I found something, and in all likelihood it will change everything, provided we can keep Rumplestiltskin from doing something unfortunate."

 

Gold closed up at his normal time, rather impatiently. He could be a very patient creature, really he could, but Jefferson's visit and his cryptic hints had left him curious and a bit out of sorts. Cryptic was _his_ line. He wondered if the Hatter had done something regrettable, and if he had, what.

Pulling the big black car out onto the road, he headed for the mansion. He was outside town, getting ready to turn onto the road up to Jefferson's when he saw Booth, walking along the side of the road. For the sake of expediency, he pulled the car over and gestured for him to get in. The two men said nothing as they made the final turn up to the house on the hill overlooking Storybrooke.

Jefferson answered the door immediately. "Come in, I've made tea," the man said.

"Tea?" Rumplestiltskin asked as they were waved into the front parlour, a room decorated with a certain eclectic flair. "I've come for answers, Hatter, not a tea party," he said sharply.

"You will get them, just a moment." Then the mad man turned from the room.

"I'd avoid the tea," he told Booth as he took one of the club chairs.

"Why, he wouldn't poison us, would he?"

"Not unless he felt it was necessary, but he has a flare for...creative herbalism," the imp said with a half grin.

"Now, you want to know what I found," the Hatter said, setting the tray down and poring them cups. He seemed a little nervous. "The secret Ward was exactly that, a ward, more like a dungeon, dark cells, little light, and a lot of very interesting pills."

"Get to the point, Hatter," the sorcerer growled. "Who are they?"

"I don't know them, not all of them. I took note of the names, but that means little to me. However, Rumplestiltskin, I need you to remain calm. I did recognise someone and...well, I brought them back here."

"Damn it, Hatter, this will ruin everything. Regina will know we are aware. She will suspect the boy and she is already a bit suspicious of me. What were you thinking?" He stood and paced the floor.

"When you see...well, just go upstairs. First room on the right. You will understand. Just hold your temper."

The sorcerer strode towards the stair case with a dark frown on his face.

"Now what?" Booth asked. He felt like he was in the middle of a movie that he'd missed part of, an important part.

"Now we wait, be grateful he has no magic, and pray that we can keep him from killing Regina before we break the curse. Whisky might also be in order."

 

Rumplestiltskin took the stairs as fast as he could for a man with a bad leg, cursing Jefferson with every step. What was the man thinking, or was he? How could he risk everything for just one person? The sorcerer had built up a fine head of anger by the time he reached the door and flung it open, eliciting a soft squeak from the occupant of the room, a familiar squeak in a voice that haunted his dreams. "Belle?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Now we have the big reveal. Please do all those lovely things, like leaving comments in the little box.


	7. A new beginning

"Belle?" Rumplestiltskin repeated, unable to believe his eyes as he stepped slowly into the room. He wanted to throw himself at her feet, to apologise for being the most ridiculous horse's arse. He wanted to throw his arms around her and hold her and reassure himself that she was safe. Then, lurking in the back of his mind, was rage and revenge.

"That is what the odd man that took me from the hospital said. I thought he was a patient, at first. I'm not certain he is quite sane, but he said he knew me and that, well.." She paused and blushed prettily. "He said that my true love thought me dead and he had to take me to him. I believed him, I don't know why. Are...are you?" she asked carefully, stepping towards him a bit shakily.

"You are right, he's quite mad, but it's a safe sort of madness," he said, groping for the right words to her other question. "True love...I am...do you..." Suddenly he was embarrassed. It wasn't like him, but at the same time he had never been all that comfortable with emotional things. He'd generally made a hash of it.

She walked over to him and touched his arm. "I'm sorry, I don't remember you," she said sadly. "Perhaps..." she held her arms out cautiously, like a child looking for reassurance, and he could no more resist than he could breathe water.

"Oh, Belle," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms. For the longest time he held her tight and murmured nonsense into her hair. She was thinner than before, and paler, her long hair needed tending, but none of that mattered. It was Belle, his Belle, alive and safe. Safe, that was a matter of opinion, but he would forgive the Hatter. Had the man left her in the dungeon, he would have torn the hospital down with his bare hands, and that would have been much more suspicious and difficult to explain. Now they just needed a plan.

"Belle, love, can you stay here for a bit?" He needed to discuss some things with Jefferson and figure out how this is going to affect their plans.

"I would rather come with you," she said, her hand clutching at his jacket. "You feel a little familiar, and as I have no memory, I would rather not be left alone."

Rumplestiltskin looked at her. It was best she be kept out of everything. On the other hand, he couldn't stand being away from her now that he'd found her, especially if he had to leave her to keep her safe. "Come along then," he said, eyeing with distaste the clothes that Jefferson had clearly scavenged from somewhere. He would take care of that soon enough, he would take care of everything. If he could, he would dress her in the finest clothes, give her whatever she wanted. Not that his Belle had ever wanted much of anything, except books, and he could give her all the books that she could read. Even if, when her memory returned, she no longer loved him, he vowed to see that she was taken care of.

The planning had turned contentious almost immediately. After being introduced with no explanation and only a gruff 'thank you, Hatter,'. Belle had been given a cup of tea and tucked carefully on the love seat next to the sorcerer. He smelled familiar and it felt good and right to be next to him, to know someone cared.

"She can stay here, Rumple, the house is huge and no one ever come here," Jefferson said.

"Or maybe she could just wander into town like me?" August suggested. "People would see her, know she was...."

"No," Gold said sharply. "It would be too easy for Regina to find some pretext to remove her, nor can she stay here." Belle, who had been listening quietly, relaxed her hold on his arm at that. Jefferson started to protest, but the sorcerer cut him off. "You are the most logical suspect if Belle is missing, and Regina won't come after you, she will go for Grace. I won't have that. No, I think it is time that I unmask myself. Regina wanted to know if I was awake and remembered. I think it's time we shake up her world a bit." In his smile, Jefferson could see the imp he knew so well.

"Are you certain you are up for this, sweetheart?" Gold asked. The two of them were alone in the Cadillac, having let young Mr. Booth out to make his way back on foot.

Belle had resisted any plan that involved her leaving his side. "You are the only thing in my world that feels familiar," she had told him, while Jefferson and Booth stayed quiet. "I'm not letting you out of my sight." There was a very familiar, very stubborn set to her jaw that made him smile.

"Very well, attack it is," he had told them. But now they were alone, and he was starting to worry about the pressure.

"For so long the world has been an unfamiliar grey cell, food and pills, no knowing one day from the next. Then, Mr. Jefferson came, and I don't remember him but I feel as if I should, and for the first time, there was something different. He brought me to you, and for the first time, something tickled in the back of my mind. For the first time something isn't completely strange or....it's something. You tell me that someone did this to me, left me in a grey world with no memory, thinking no one knew me or cared for me. I've had no choice. Now, I can do something, and I want to fight back."

"That's my girl,". Rumplestiltskin said with a smile. It was time to take his Belle home. Tomorrow was soon enough for dealing with Regina.  Let her stew for the night, this was for the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so thank you for reading. Sorry this has been so very late, but my event is in a week, and I've been buried under planning. Still hoping to get some updating done before I head off to the woods. Please leave a comment in the little box.


	8. The first salvo

Saturday morning found Mr. Gold driving to the shop with Belle next to him. As much as he would rather stay home with her by his side, this needed to be managed very carefully. Last night, he had taken her home and spent the evening in briefing her. He had made them a light dinner, and then...well then it had become a bit awkward. Belle wasn't entirely sure about sleeping alone in a strange place and he had ended up inviting her to sleep in his big bed. He'd had a rather sleepless night after that. Despite the years spent convincing himself that he needed no one and nothing, the time after she had disappeared when he had promised every god he could think of and a few he'd only heard about anything in order to have her back, the reality was a warm, beautiful woman who smelled heavenly and ended snuggled in his arms. He'd started his morning with a cold shower and a strong desire to do something spectacularly violent to Regina, later. For now, he was a bit grateful for a little time that was less...intimate.

He held the car door for her and accepted her arm slipped inside his to walk down to the diner. Once there, Mr. Gold held the door open for the petite brunette, who smiled sweetly at him before preceding him towards a booth he indicated in the back of the room. He had explained his plan last night and she had agreed easily, even adding some of her own ideas, but then his Belle was rather smarter than most. Instead of hiding her, Rumplestiltskin was going to brazen it out, dare Regina to come after him. She was bold, but she would know that if Belle was with him that she was already in danger.

The diner had gone silent when Gold and his companion had walked in, and it was only slowly that conversation was starting again. It was a fairly ordinary Saturday morning crowd, three of the dwarves whee drinking coffee and eating pancakes at the counter along with Doctor Hopper and Graham, the sheriff, who looked at Belle once, twice, and then looked away suddenly. Something was happening with him, but Gold hadn't the time to worry about it now. August Booth was in a seat by the window, looking out at the street in a sort of dreamy fashion, and writing in a journal. He'd told Ruby he was recording his travels, in case he decided he wanted to be a writer. Another table contained David Nolan and Mary Margaret Blanchard. The couple was lingering over coffee after a meal and arguing about a book they were both clearly reading.

"What do you want?" Granny demanded as she set two glasses of water none too gently on the table.

"Breakfast," Gold gave back as good as he got. "This _is_ a restaurant, more or less, after all. I'll start with a cup of tea though. My dear?" he asked gently, causing the old wolf's mouth to fall open. "Would you like tea or cocoa? I know you don't care for coffee." Far from refuting his assertion or appearing the least bit distressed, she smiled happily at the pawnbroker.

"Tea, I think," she said. "Thank you." Granny was so disconcerted by the whole thing that she dropped the menus and hurried off to the kitchen.

Gold smiled at her retreating back, and took Belle's hand over the table, giving it a gentle reassuring squeeze as they studied the menus.

 

The couple had gotten as far as ordering and were starting to eat when Regina and her daughter arrived for their Saturday pancakes, or rather, Cora's pancakes and cocoa, and Regina's black coffee. The mayor scanned the room, caught sight of him where he was sitting facing the door and started to give him a dismissive smile when the other occupant of the table followed his gaze to her.

For a moment, Regina went pale and almost seemed as if she was going to fall. "You okay, Mom?" Cora asked, following her gaze to where the two people were sitting at the back. "Who's that sitting with Mr. Gold?" she asked innocently, with the curiosity of the young.

"I'm fine, I just need to speak to Mr. Gold," Regina responded vaguely, ignoring her second question. "You get a seat." She strode over to where Gold and Belle sat. Inside the imp grinned.

"Madame Mayor, to what to I owe the... _honour_?" he asked.

"I thought I would come over and see what poor woman you had managed to bribe into having breakfast with you and offer them a means of escape," she said with a nasty smile.

"Ah, but Mayor Mills, surely you remember my dear Belle, even if the last time you couldn't get her name right." Regina clinched her teeth. She'd known it, the damn imp remembered, he had to, otherwise, he wouldn't have said that.

"Good morning your honour," Belle said sweetly.

"Of course, I thought she had left you," the woman said, ignoring the brunette. Not that Belle was going to allow that.

"I did, for a bit," Belle inserted herself back into the conversation. She didn't remember anything, but she knew that voice, the one that came to laugh at her in the dark, and she was going to do her part. "It was but a silly argument, bad information. But I came back, or rather I tried to. I was delayed a bit." The pleasant smile had slipped away.

"But she has returned to me," Rumplestiltskin said. Regina opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it as he leaned close to her. "And she's going to stay that way. You will do nothing to interfere with that. You will make no move against her. In fact, you will not approach her in any way, or speak to her. If she is in a shop, you will leave, if she is on the sidewalk, you will cross the street," he said sharply, the darkness growing in his brown eyes.

"I..." Regina started to say.

Gold leaned even closer to her with a smile more at home on his old scaly face. " _ **Please**_." There was a flash of fear and anger, but there was nothing she could do. She turned around, grimaced and started towards the door.

"Mom, my pancakes," Cora called.

"I need to go to the office to see about something," Regina told her daughter, distractedly. "Join me when you are done." She fumbled into her designer handbag, pulled out a handful of cash and dropped it onto the table before hurrying to the door, practically running over Sidney Glass as he entered. This round went to the imp.

"I'm charging you for driving off my clientele," Granny growled just a little. Not that she liked Regina, and all she ever got was coffee, but still, it was the principle.

"Feel free to add her coffee to my bill. It's a small price to pay to improve the quality of your establishment."

Granny went back behind the counter a little shaken. There were only two real powers in Storybrooke, and for the most part, they either ignored or sniped at one another, but the young woman sitting with him seemed to have stirred something up, though all she did was sit and eat. But if they were in active conflict, things were going to get messy, and she didn't want anything to do with that. Of course, there was a limit to how far one could stay out of it. If choosing sides became necessary, Gold was still her landlord. Besides, she reckoned she was safer with the monster she knew. Regina was nasty, but she'd bet on the pawnbroker in a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a bit. I've been camping and just got home yesterday from the event. Now, I have had sleep (helping run an event is exhausting) and am back at my writing. Please, leave a comment in the little box.


	9. Playing

Breakfast complete, Gold and Belle left the diner, completely aware (or at least he was) of the buzz of conversation that sprang up in their wake. "Then, clothes first, I think. I have a few dresses at the shop, but you will need other things," he said to her.

"But...but I don't really...I can't..."

"Come love, you need things, shoes, a nightdress, other...things."

"Won't people think I am..."

"I could care less what people think," he said roughly. "You will have the best of everything. What we cannot get here, we will order."

"Am I...do I care about fashion?" she asked quietly, having no desire to be overheard.

"Not particularly, or not that you ever mentioned to me, now books..." Rumplestiltskin said with a smile.

"I love to read," she said, more affirming the vague sense to herself.

"Yes, and after I close up the shop tonight, and we are back home, I will show you the library."

"You have a library? Why did you not tell me?" Belle asked slightly reproachfully.

"Because sweetheart, last night you were tired and overwhelmed, not to mention in need of a proper night's sleep. Had you seen the library, you'd have been up choosing books 'til morning," he told her with a gentle smile that few would credit him with being capable of. She acknowledged that it was most probably the truth.

 

Regina got to her office in a state somewhere between rage and terror. Rumplestiltskin knew.  Not only did he know, did he remember, but he had somehow managed to find her most closely guarded secret, or definitely one of them. How had he found the damned girl and how had he managed to restore her memory? Regina sat down heavily and brushed all those thoughts away to focus on the most important question of all. What now? What was Rumplestiltskin planning and what was he going to do to her?

She had known she was taking a big risk when she had taken the little chit, but then the reward would have been worth it. Now she had to figure out her next move. Of course, because of her damned deal, she couldn't even go to the shop to speak to him, and the cursed imp was unlikely to allow the girl out of his sight. Regina picked up a small vase from her desk and threw it across the room violently, where it exploded into satisfying splinters against the wall.

 

"So what was that all about?" August asked Ruby when she refilled his coffee. The diner was empty, at least of customers, everyone having left, breakfast rush having finished, and the young man rose and began to help her clear the tables.

"You don't have to..." Ruby started but he just shrugged it off.

"I grew up in a restuarant. So who were those two, and what's the deal?" he asked as he gathered plates into a bus tub. "I've seen the guy around, not a lot of suits here, and I met the mayor when I arrived, but..."

"Mr Gold. He runs the pawn and antique store across the road, but I think that's just a hobby, it's not like he needs to work, he owns pretty much the entire town."

"He looks like a banker, either that or a lawyer," the young man said with a look that said he wasn't really fond of either.

"He _is_ a lawyer," Granny contributed for the first time, smiling just a little approvingly of the young man. "Just not a lot of legal work around here. And I'll tell you both this, those two have never been friends that I remember, but except for sniping, it's never really been much. Her Mayorness has to have done something to set him off though. She knows it, and he knows it, and until they settle it, I'd stay out of the way."

"What about the girl, Granny? I mean Gold's never shown any..." Ruby couldn't figure out what to say.

"Gold's been a widower since before you were born."

"Online dating?" August suggested innocently. Ruby burst out laughing and even Granny smiled.

"Need a dishwasher, and bus boy. If you are up for some repairs and heavy lifting, boy, I'll give you a job. Now, back to work, Ruby." She turned and walked into the kitchen. Never did to gossip about Gold, it just wasn't a good idea.

 

After they had done a small amount of shopping, (limited by Belle's reluctance, and Gold's sneering disgust at the quality of the goods available), they went back to the shop to open up. Belle was fascinated by the variety of things on counters, in cabinets and bookshelves. She picked up one of a set of particularly ugly dolls on a center display. "You've had these...I...I remember them," she said in wonder.

"They are rather memorable," he said gently. Any little memory was proof positive that it was only magic that kept her memory from her and therefore not permanent. Regardless of the outcome, he wanted her to have her memory back.

"They need a good dusting as well, everything does, and those windows are a disgrace," she told him practically, as she twisted her hair up with determination, moving to the counter to rummage behind in the bag from the drug store for something to hold it.

"Belle, you don't..." Rumplestiltksin started.

"I'm not just going to sit around and be useless," she told him sharply. Finding what she needed, Belle finished her hair, and putting a gentle hand on his arm, she gave him a smile. "Rum, I've been doing nothing for a long time, let me do this." One look in those sapphire bright eyes and he nodded. He could not refuse her, not now. Belle leaned up and kissed his cheek before going into the back to find the cleaning supplies.

"Gold."  The bell over the door rang as young Emma ducked in. "I don't have much time. I just managed to ditch Glass, but Mom sent me over to Paige's. She's really pissed, like throwing things pissed. What did you find in the hospital?" The words tumbled out in one big jumbling, taking the sorcerer a moment to make sense of it. As he started to answer, Belle came through the curtain.

"Oh, hello, you were at the diner with the mayor. You must be..." she said, walking over to the door to start on the window.

"Emma, called Cora, Belle," he said absently by way of introduction. "She is what we found, Princess. Your dear stepmother was keeping her prisoner."

"Why would my mom do that?" the girl said suspiciously. She hated it when Gold called her 'Princess', especially when he did it _that_ way, like she was a stupid kid. Besides, she knew her mom was not always _nice_ , in fact, she could be a real...b-word, but...

"Leverage. A weapon to use against me," Gold was saying. "Belle is my True Love, and Regina told me she was dead."

Cora was still trying to get her head around what Gold was saying when Belle, having turned to start the window, looked out and saw a man coming towards the shop looking determined. "Who is the black gentleman from the diner?" she asked.

"Glass," the girl said, ducking and heading toward the curtain.

"Back door," Gold said quietly. "We will talk later." The daughter of the mayor of Storybrooke, Princess of one of the largest and most powerful kingdoms in the Enchanted Forest, nodded and scuttled through the curtain with the speed and skill of the street urchin that Rumplestiltskin had once been. _Definitely Snow White's daughter,_ he thought.

"Glass," he said as the former genie, current newspaper man, entered, almost getting a face full of spray cleaner from Belle.

"Excuse me," she said politely, letting him pass.

"What does Storybrooke's answer to tabloid journalism want here?" Gold said without introducing them. "Or did Regina send you? This is the second time you have come into the shop recently, another flimsy excuse?"

Sidney, forced to deal with Gold, as the young woman ignored him in favour of continuing to clear the window glass on the door, stepped towards the counter silently cursing. He thought he'd seen Cora go into the shop, and he'd allowed his curiosity about the woman to cause him to blunder. He could tell that Gold was in as much of a forgiving mood as Regina was though. Honesty, or as close to, that was it, the worst he could do was throw him out, he hoped. "I wanted to find out about the young lady, maybe a story? We don't get a lot of new people in Storybrooke," Sidney said. "Just thought I would..."

"No," Gold said firmly.

"Don't you think the young lady should speak for herself?" the reported asked maliciously.

"Very well. No," Belle said, turning her determined face towards him, still holding the window cleaner. "I've seen your paper. It's quite good..." Sidney smiled. "It's good quality paper for cleaning windows, but I've no interested in being in it. Please keep your purient pen to yourself. Rum, can I have some more paper, and the stepladder please?" Then she turned her back and moved to the dusty front windows.

"Leave." Gold said. It didn't take more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, to those of you who are hanging on with me on this. I'm hoping for more writing time, but life keeps interferring. Still, please leave a comment, to keep the muse and I happy.


	10. Who needs a deal?

It was getting near time to close the pawnshop when the phone rang. Gold was not particularly surprised when he answered it to find it was Regina, but Belle was in the back, so he decided to take the call in the front. "Well, your Majesty, I was wondering how long it would take you to figure out this solution."

"You remember," she accused.

"Yes." He wasn't going to make it easier and he certainly wasn't going to give her any more information than that. Let her think he always had done, or whatever else she wanted. Instead, he waited. She was wrong footed, and he was okay with keeping her that way.

"We need to talk," Regina said, trying to regain her regal tone.

"I thought we were doing," Rumplestiltskin sneered into the phone.

"You know what I mean, privately, in person."

"Ye--ess. That's not going to happen. You stole that which I value most in the world. I'll not give you a second chance. Be glad I've let you keep your skin intact, for now."

"I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done in the same circumstances," Regina tried, hoping she didn't sound as petty as she thought she might. There was a long pause and the Evil Queen started to wonder if he was just going to hang up on her. Perhaps attack was the wrong tactic.

"What do you want, Regina?" He asked finally. "I'm a busy man."

She paused. She'd not quite figured out how she was supposed to ask the damned imp for his help when she had not only lost her leverage, but been caught out at it. _Apologise_? The thought came and left immediately. She had tried to use the woman he loved against him, failed, then kidnapped her, told him she was dead and kept her prisoner for over a decade. 'I'm sorry,' was not going to cut it. "What do you want?" she asked. It was probably safer and would avoid guessing wrong and stepping in something deeper.

"At the moment, dearie, you have nothing at all that I want," Rumplestiltskin said carefully. It wouldn't do to push her to recklessness, but it would be close. "However..." He paused, almost able to taste her desperation. Regina was well aware of how badly she had screwed up and exactly how dangerous it was to her continued good health. "Let me think on it, perhaps something will occur," he finished.

"All right," she told him stiffly. She wanted to yell, or beg, something, but she knew better. Rumplestiltskin would make her wait, but at least he seemed willing to deal. It was going to cost, of that she was sure, and cost dearly, but it was better than the alternative.

"Let me make one thing very clear though, dearie. If you consider, say, getting one of your lackeys to try to do something for you, if there is even the slightest hint that someone is trying to come after her, you will pay the price. Do we understand one another?"

"Completely."

Rumplestiltskin rang off and returned to the back room. After her cleaning frenzy, Belle had reviewed the dresses he had, and then curled up on the little cot to read a book she had found on the shelf.

"Why do you have a bed back here when you have such a big, beautiful house?" she asked.

"Sometimesthe weather is too bad. We get blizzards, among other things," he told her. "Then there are times when the house feels too..."

"Empty?" she suggested.

"Exactly."

"Well, it's not empty anymore," Belle told him, smiling over the top of her book.

"That is true, and now, I am only open a half day on Saturday, so let me close up and you can decide what you would like to do with the rest of our day."

"But you were late because of the shopping, I wouldn't want you to miss out on business," Belle told him, though she had to admit, she was a little tired. She had done more in the last day than she had in a week. The thought of returning to the beautiful house with Rum and getting to see the library, perhaps curling up in the window seat and reading, or perhaps the porch, especially if he would join her, sounded lovely. Belle found that spending time with the man who had orchestrated her rescue, even if he hadn't known what or who exactly he was rescuing, made her feel safe. It was a good thing, to feel for the first time in a long time that she wasn't alone. Of course, she didn't know the whole story. Rum( she wasn't certain whether it was a nickname or what, but it was what he had told her to call him, and it felt right in the mouth) had told her that he didn't want to possibly bias her or cause an issue. But what he had told her, that they had a huge fight over a stupid misunderstanding, that he'd thrown her out and then regretted it. 'I wanted to go after you, but my pride wouldn't allow it. I told myself you were better off without this old monster,' he'd told her, not that she believed he was a monster, not at all. With her, he was gentle, almost as if afraid she would break or vanish.

"So what would you like to do?" he asked, dragging her from her thoughts.

"Could we go home? I would like to see that library."

He laughed. No real surprise there. His Belle had always been a bookish sort. Like him, she liked books a good deal more than most people, she just didn't actively _dislike_ humanity as much as he did. "Of course we can, sweetheart. We'll have to do something about dinner. Would you like to pick up takeaway? Something we can heat, or would you rather go out later? I'm no cook, as I told you."

"I...I can cook," she said softly, as if it just occurred to her. "I think I can, at least."

"There is no need for that, not yet anyway. Perhaps when you've recovered a bit. But for tonight, what would you like?" he asked. He wasn't going to let her overdo it, not so very soon. If he could, he would wrap her in cotton wool, and keep her safe, but he knew she would never allow him to do that. He had always appreciated Belle's strength, and determination, even when it drove him to distraction. She had never been afraid to stand up to him for what she believed in.

"I think takeaway," she said after careful consideration. "I think I've had as much of people as I'm up for today, except for you, of course. If that's all right ?"

"Perfectly. Let us close up. I know just the place to..."

The bell in the front jaggled and he muffled a curse before moving into the front of the shop to give whoever it was his best disapproving grimace. However when he came through the curtain, he found the sheriff, Graham, the Queen's huntsman, who seemed too distracted to appreciate the imp's mood, or even notice. At the moment he looked more hunted than hunter. His eyes were wild and it looked like he'd been in the forest. There was a leaf caught in his curly hair. "Sheriff, what..." he started.

 "Mr Gold, can you help me? I think I'm losing me mind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little more story. Hope that you enjoy and leave a comment in the little box. Thank you.


	11. The wolf

"And you came to me?" Gold asked carefully. Something was definitely going on with the young man. The sheriff was nice enough, but usually a bit reserved. The sorcerer would have blamed that on his limited ability to feel, after all, Regina had taken his heart years ago, keeping him as a sort of pet and sexual plaything. But that was only a small part of it. The huntsman was always solitary, almost feral, having as little to do with his fellow man (or woman) as he could. It amused Regina to chain the wolf and make it beg for scraps. It disgusted the old imp, but if the huntsman was starting to break free, it was another thread from the curse unraveling. "Why come to me?" he asked. "Surely Doctor Hopper..."

"Archie's a good man, but..." Graham said, running a distracted hand through his curly hair, dislodging a leaf. "There are things in my head and somehow you...I can't quite..."

"Very well," Gold concluded, making a quick decision. He was certain that Belle had heard and was probably waiting on the other side of the curtain, cautious. "Come through to the back where we can talk. Just let me lock the door. Don't want any interruptions, now do we?" he asked with half a smile.

He turned the sign, locked the door, and waved him towards the back as his love made her presence known. "Are we..." she started to ask, looking at the young man cautiously, but curiously.

"I know you. I don't..." the sheriff stumbled over his words. Whatever was causing it, his memory was definitely breaking through. Rumplestiltskin wondered briefly how he knew Belle, the decided that was a question for later, much later. Right now, he had to figure out how to keep the man alive and sane. He would make a useful ally, possibly. If nothing else, removing him from Regina's clutches would make a good start towards that rather heavy payment he owed her.

"Belle, this is the sheriff, Graham, Graham Humbert. The sheriff has a problem for which he needs my assistance. Can you make some tea?" he asked. There was a look in his eyes that told her this was very important.

"Of course," she said, moving to fill the electric kettle.

"Now, sheriff, I'm curious, where do you know Belle from?"

"I don't, I mean I do, but..." He stopped and tried to order his thoughts. "It started with the dreams, strange dreams, people I know that I've known all my life, but not as they are, a wolf, calling me into the forest. I thought I was just tired." He nodded as Belle set the cup of strong, sweet tea next to him. Clearly he'd had some kind of shock. She looked over at Gold, a question in her eyes. He waved her to sit down.

"Then..." Gold encouraged.

"I woke up in the woods. I must have been sleepwalking or something. I could have sworn there was a wolf...But it's not just that. Now, I'm having these things, these visions when I'm wide awake, like when I saw her," he pointed to Belle. "And I don't know why I came here." He put down the cup hard, and started to stand. "Should just get Archie to lock me away."

"Sit down," Gold ordered. The man dropped as though his legs would no longer hold and Belle gave him a mildly disapproving look. "I don't think we need to bundle you off to Bedlam just yet, nothing that drastic. Can you tell me when this started?"

Graham closed his eyes and thought. He was so very tired. "I think I've had the dreams before, hard to remember, but they got more frequent in the last couple of weeks. It was no problem. Thursday was the first time I...well it was the first time I know I was sleepwalking. I woke up covered in mud under the old bridge."

"Thursday?" Gold reiterated. Graham nodded, distracted, as Belle poured him more tea and encouraged him to drink it while Gold thought. Thursday was the night the princess had turned up at his house with the information that led to Belle, the night Cora had been caught sneaking into her house, or Graham had been caught sneaking out, depending on how one looked at it. Well, it had to be something that happened with the princess, at least he assumed it must. "Tell me what you did Thursday," Gold inquired.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Leroy was in the cell overnight, drunk and disorderly. I let him go around ten so he could get to work. Gave Ruby Lucas a speeding ticket, again. Let's see, there was a nuisance dog compliant against old Mrs. Hubbard's dog," he said, trying to order the random memories.

"Beyond doing your job then?"

"Let's see, had lunch and dinner at Granny's, then..." He flushed a little.

"Then you spent time with our illustrious mayor, the details of which I am not the least interested in. In fact, _don't_ tell me, I insist. Did you see E...Cora?" he corrected, mentally cursing his almost slip.

"Cora?" Graham asked, confused, though grateful not to be asked to explain Regina. He'd no idea what the other man was about, but at the moment, he didn't much care. He wasn't interested in gossip, that was certain, and he clearly already knew about Graham's relationship or whatever it was that he and Regina had. _Besides_ , the sheriff thought, _it isn't as if I have a lot of options_. "I did, yes, a couple of times in passing, then I spoke to her as I was leaving..." He didn't think Gold would get her in trouble, actually he didn't think the man cared, but they had more or less an agreement.

"Hmmm," the pawnbroker acknowledged, but asked no more. Instead, he sank into thought, only emerging when Belle coughed discretely. "Yes, well I have an idea or two, but for now, I think what you need is a good night's safe sleep. Do you know the old mansion on the hill?" he asked.

"The stone? Yes, the man who owns it is a bit of a recluse, right, eccentric?"

"He is that," Gold agreed. "But he is also quite an expert on herbal teas. Go up the hill, I'll call him and tell him what's needed," the older man instructed.

"Are you sure?'

"I'm certain you will be better for an undisturbed night sleep, and the other choice is that quack Whale, and something from the pharmacy, with it all over town in an hour. Your decision, of course." The imp smiled. For just a moment, when Graham looked at him, he saw someone, something else, curls, and gold flecked skin and a sing song voice. He shivered. Definitely short on choices.

"All right, I'll do it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, hope everyone is enjoying this odd little journey. Please leave a comment in the little box.


	12. A Quiet Evening in Storybrooke

"And what am _I_ supposed to do with him?" Jefferson asked sharply.

"I need to find out what is in his visions or memories, or, failing all that, at least a place to tuck him away safely while I think of something. If Regina finds out that he is starting to remember, she will kill him."

"Since when do you care?" the Hatter asked only half seriously. He knew better than most that the imp was really only half as callous as he wanted people to believe, and how much he struggled with the inner darkness in the same way the Hatter struggled with sanity. Pushing him too hard was never a good idea though.

"I don't particularly, but if he is freed from her, he is both an asset to us and it will be just the first part of my revenge against Regina," Rumplestiltskin told him. "Besides, he knows something about what happened to Belle."

"How is she?"

"Her memory is merely blocked, not actually gone, like everyone else in town. Unlike them, however, Regina seems to have never bothered with cursed memories. I am confident that the breaking of the curse will cure that, if only I knew how. Especially now that the princess is starting to wake up early. She doesn't believe quite yet, but she will. I wonder what it was that caused Graham's sudden change?" he said, changing the subject abruptly.

"I will see what I can do. You take care of Belle, and I will deal with the Huntsman." The Hatter rang off. The 'don't screw it up this time' was implied but never said. He hung up and went to join Belle.

Arriving at home, Gold shooed her off to put her things away. He'd had to stop himself from suggesting she could hang the dresses in his closet. It wasn't the time now, if ever. But she was clinging to him and that was so very hard to resist. She could easily decide to return to her room tonight, thought he saw no sign of it. At the moment she was still at the stage of not wishing to be alone. Of course, once she got her memory back, everything could change, should change, if he were honest. But for now, he would concern himself with those things he could control. Belle called his name, dragging him from his worries as she wanted his company.

 

Cora crouched down quietly and watched. She had gotten home just in time to hear her mother curse and throw down the phone. Then she stormed out of the house. More and more, her mother was being weird. Not only that, but she was _really_ up to something. That girlfriend or whatever of Gold's (and Gold with a girlfriend....ewwwww), well, she didn't want to believe him, or the storybook for that matter, but both of them had been right so far. Plus the look on her mom's face when she had seen them this morning said it all. That was when she decided, she needed to follow Regina. That and something about the way she looked, like she didn't want anyone to see her. Usually her mother just walked through town like she was the queen, which, apparently, she kind of was.

If it was weird that her mom was sneaking, then where she was sneaking to was even weirder. First, she hadn't taken her car, she walked. If Cora knew anything at all about her mother, (well, adopted mother, she was still getting used to that bit), she didn't walk, not hardly ever, not in those heels. But sure enough, she had walked out of the house, picking up some roses she had cut and heading down the road.

Cora had followed her out to the cemetery of all places. If there was ever a place that wasn't made for high heel shoes, it was a walk through a cemetery. Also, not the best place for surveillance. Cora hid behind a big gravestone as Regina looked around and let her get further through the graveyard. When the girl finally got the courage to look up and see though, she had disappeared. Cora looked around frantically, afraid that her mom had seen her and was going to pop out and then she was going to be so busted, but she had lost her. Then she saw the mausoleum. "Yeah, nothing creepy at all about a big scary mausoleum, all by itself in a cemetery," Cora whispered to herself. Of course, it was labelled Mills. Who else would have the biggest monument in the cemetery?  She was absolutely convinced it was where her mother was. Cora had never been inside a mausoleum and she didn't want to now. She'd only seen them in horror movies, and they were never good. She was debating what to do next. If she opened the door, she would absolutely get caught. It wasn't like there was a lot of room inside the thing. Maybe she could tell her mom that she saw her coming this way and was worried? Still thinking, she crept to the door.

 

"Are you sure about this?" Graham asked for the third time, looking at the fancy cup and saucer before him.

"Do you want to find out what's happening to you?' the man asked.

  
There was something about him, like the woman with Gold, he was almost certain he had met him before, but didn't know why. "Do I know you?" he'd asked, but the man had just blown him off, saying that was something they could get to later. "Yes, I do, but I'm not..."

"Let me try this another way, what choice have you got?" Jefferson asked. Graham thought about it, then nodded. He didn't entirely trust the man, or Gold either for that matter, but he was pretty sure he had no other options or no options that were any better. He picked up the cup of tea in front of him and started to bring it to his lips. "I should warn you, it tastes like compost. Drink up."

Graham took a sip, almost gagged, and finally managed to choke it down. The man was wrong, it tasted worse than compost, or so he imagined, and for the first time in as long as he could remember, he wished his sense of smell was not so very acute. "Gahhhawwww," he groaned as he swallowed, praying it would stay down. There was no way he could handle it making a reappearance.

He sat the cup back down carefully in the saucer. "Now what?" he asked, but as he looked at the man, things seemed to get blurry.

"Make yourself comfortable," Jefferson told him, his voice coming suddenly from a very long way off. For some reason, he thought of the forest. He'd always felt happiest there.

 

As expected, Belle managed to acquire a large stack of books. "They aren't going anywhere, sweetheart," he said, watching her go through them with a gentle smile.

"But you have so many and I want to read them all," she told him excitedly.

"Yes, but you can't read them all tonight," he told, her before helping her take the first small stack down. If Belle wanted to sit and read, then he would be happy to accommodate her. Actually, he would be happy to accommodate her smallest wish, up to and including Regina's head on a plate. He would probably enjoy the last one more than she would, though. The two of them settled down companionably on the porch. The garden was starting to fade as fall approached. _Perhaps_ , he thought, _winter will be better with Belle here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for continuing to read this. Sorry I have been out of touch, but I'm back and with luck there will be some writing happening. Please leave a comment in the little box so I know that I'm still on the right thread.


	13. Locks and keys

Cora had just about screwed up her courage to go to the door, when it started to open. She ran to hide behind the big stone square as her adopted mother came out, slamming the door behind her. Fortunately for Cora (Emma, her real name was Emma) she didn't even look around, but stalked through the cemetary cursing slightly as her heel caught in the grass and she almost pitched forward. The girl hid, stifling a giggle. Now the question was, what to do. She knew she didn't want to go home right at this moment. Her mother was clearly in a really bad mood and that was a good time to avoid her, at least if she didn't want either get in a fight or to end up grounded, or probably, both.

Watching until Regina was out of sight, she took a couple of moments, and then she crept towards the door, or rather, she started to creep. But really, there was no reason for her to be cautious, after all, there was no one around, and even if there were, she was a Mills, technically anyway, so what were they going to say? She was reaching for the door when she heard movement behind her.

 

"Well, it's a mess all right," Jefferson told Rumplestiltskin over the phone. He had found out everything he could, and finally settled the sheriff on the settee with a blanket over him. The final component of his tea had involved an exceptionally powerful sedative of his own concoction, which would absolutely provide the man with a good night's sleep, completely free of all dreams, visions, memories and any other flotsam and jetsam of the mind. The mad Hatter would know.

"From what I can tell, he is _definitely_ experiencing flashes of memory. That's why his sleepwalking took him into the forest. He was looking for his wolf. The forest was always his home, at least before Regina got ahold of him."

"Is there a way to either speed up the process or stop it?" the sorcerer asked.

"You're asking me? I can barely keep myself together and that only with the greatest force of will. Of course, my will is my own, more or less, though the March Hare..."

"Not now Jefferson. I need you to keep your head clear a bit longer," Rumplestiltskin snapped. His voice still had the power to command, though it would last only so long.

"What you need is a hypnotist, not an herbalist. Or to push the process further, and I only know one way to do that for certain..."

"Find his heart,' the older man confirmed, distracted.

"Exactly.  I will say that I believe it was the little princess who precipitated this current problem. His feelings for her are jumbled. He cares for her a great deal, would probably even like to be a father to her, but his 'relationship'...."

"If you can call it that," Rumplestiltskin sneered.

"Exactly. He and Regina are not...well, whatever it is that they are, it puts him in an emotionally compromised position where our Princess Emma is concerned. The other night, when he caught her, she said or did something, and that something led to this current state of affairs. But for now, he's unconscious on my settee, and likely to remain so for the rest of the night. I've done my bit."

Rumplestiltskin thanked the mad man distractedly as he rang off. There was much to be considered, but first and foremost, where was Regina hiding that heart?

 

"What are _you_ doing here?" Emma shouted at the young man standing there looking a little uncomfortable on the path leading up to the monument.

"Keeping an eye on you," August said, shrugging.

"But why?" She sighed, exasperated. Just what she needed, someone else sticking their nose in her business.

"Because it's kind of my job." Rumplestiltskin hadn't really explained the guy to her when they met before, but it had been brief, more a matter of laying our the plan. He'd said that he was Pinochio, and he was here to help. But the sorcerer had never been one to explain more than necessary.

He sighed. August hated explaining. "My father, my real father, he made a deal with the Blue Fairy, to save me from the curse. I was supposed to watch out for you in this new world. We were both supposed to be outside the curse, but..."

"But my mom, Regina that is, she got me first, I know all that, what's it got to do with me _now_?" the Princess asked, frustrated.

"I waited for you though, I watched. I'm supposed to look out for you. Otherwise I could turn back into a puppet, and I don't want to do that. You wouldn't want that to happen either, now would you?" he asked. grinning. "Besides, maybe I can help?"

Emma thought about it. She hated the idea of anyone watching her, it was creepy. On the other hand, he wasn't Sidney Glass and he wasn't on her mom's side, that much she knew. She might not trust Gold completely, but at the moment he was the only one who was telling her the truth, even if it was only part of the truth, and August Booth was on the same side, more or less. "All right, you keep watch. I want to find out what my mom was doing in there." She pointed to the door in front of her.

August shrugged, but turned to scan the empty graveyard. He'd followed Regina to the turn at the end of the road towards the house and was fairly sure she wasn't coming back. Still, maybe he could be of some help.

"Stupid door," the princess muttered.

"What's the matter?" August asked, casting a quick glance over his shoulder at her.

"Locked. I can't get it open. Who locks a mausoleum?  I mean, what is there to steal, a dead body?"

"Here, you watch, let me try," August told her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Try to pick the lock," he told her, kneeling down so he could take a closer look.

"How do you know how to do that?" Emma asked, trying to keep watch and still see what he was doing. Never knew when something like that could come in handy.

"My foster parent. My mom loses her keys all the time. My foster dad taught me, so I could let her into the restaurant. It's safer than hiding a spare key." He turned back to what he was doing. August continued what he was doing until there was a *click*. "Should do it." But when he stood up, and she pushed the door nothing happened. He tried again. Same thing. The third time he looked at Emma.

This is not normal," August told her.

"Rumplestiltskin?"

"Rumplestiltskin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it has been so long, but between the heat and everything else, I have gotten absolutely nothing done. Still, I hope this feeds the appetite somewhat. I am going to try to have more soon.


	14. Sharing information

August dropped Emma off at home. He was going to talk to Rumplestiltskin without her. Not that she was really anxious to interrupt the sorcerer at home, especially now that he had a girlfriend or whatever. She wasn't sure which would be worse, his mood or seeing them kissing or something, _ewwwww_. "Look, he probably won't do anything tonight," the young man told her. "And you will be in place to keep Regina at home, or at least busy. You will kind of be protecting everyone."

Emma didn't look like she believed him, not entirely, but if she was late, her mother would be combing the town, she knew that. Not to mention being grounded. Now that things were happening in Storybrooke, the last thing she wanted was to be kept out of the action because her mother grounded her for not being where she was supposed to be, or worse, Regina going all 'Mayor' and having everyone in town reporting in on her.

She agreed reluctantly and took off towards the house. Maybe she could get her mom to agree to take her to Granny's for dinner. Regina did that sometimes when she didn't feel like cooking or was distracted, and considering how she had been earlier, she was definitely distracted. Cora pinned her hopes on distraction and french fries, which her mom told her were bad for her completion, running into the house.

 

August knocked on the back door of the big pink Victorian. He was nervous. Interrupting the sorcerer was not exactly the safest thing ever, even without magic. But it wasn't Rumplestiltskin who answered the door, it was Belle. "Hello," she said politely.

"Belle, I asked you not to open...." the sorcerer started, coming in from the other room. "Oh, it's you, Booth.  Now what is it you want this afternoon?" He wasn't looking completely pleased, but he didn't look angry either. The young man considered it a good sign as he stepped through into the house at the woman's invitation.

"I was keeping an eye on Emma," he started.

"Tea?" Belle asked, handing a cup to Gold.

He took it with a gentle smile, a look that the former puppet kind of wished he wasn't around to witness. "No, thank you ma'am. As I was saying, Emma followed Regina to an old mausoleum, labelled Mills," he told the older man.

"Hmmmm, yes. And?"

"Well, after she was gone, Emma tried to get in, and I tried to help her. Funny thing though, when I was trying to pick the lock, it turned but then nothing happened. So...."

"So you thought, rightly, that there was something suspicious about a pick proof mausoleum. It's a good thought," he said.

"If she is hiding something," August said.

"Oh, I assure you, she is, many things, " Gold said. "But I think you may have found an answer to one of our problems." August realised that it had practically been a compliment from the old sorcerer. "This will need just a bit of preparation."

"I convinced the princess to go back home and keep Regina distracted."

"Ah, we might actually need her for this, but we will see... I think tomorrow morning, first thing. The light is going quickly and I need to get some things ready. Lights in a cemetery after dark are always suspicious. We cannot wait much longer than that though. For starters, there are limits to how long the sheriff can be out of circulation without Regina getting suspicious," Gold was talking low, almost to himself.

  
August started to ask but decided it wasn't a good time when he realised the time. "I've got to get to Granny's," he said. "I've got a job now."

"You've two at least," Rumplestiltskin said. "While you are at the diner, keep an eye out. See if you notice anything strange going on."

"Strange, here?" August asked, with a half a smile. "When isn't it?" He let himself out the back door and hurried away into the evening.

"I am going to assume that this means you will be working on something this evening," Belle asked. "Can I help or even know what it is all about?"

Rumplestiltskin took a moment. Belle had been accepting of just about everything that had happened, even when she didn't know the whole story, which was most things. How would she respond to the truth? How much could he tell her safely? Secrets were part of his basic nature. On the other hand, he preferred not to leave her alone. He could barely stand to have her out of his sight. "I cannot explain, sweetheart, except that they may have found where Regina hides some things that might help us to help the sheriff with his current condition."

"You never said what that was, something with his memory. Is it like mine? Could you find something to help me?" she asked anxiously.

Rumplestiltskin thought about it. Could he find something to help with her memory? Who knew. The curse was not meant to do what was done to her, and if he knew how she had done it, perhaps he could reverse it. The bigger question was, how were they going to manage the magic to do so, if they did? Graham was easy enough, find heart, take heart. Maybe he would replace it, just for amusement. It wouldn't help his memory (though the sorcerer had some ideas about that as well), but Regina would be unable to control him, nor could she simply crush it and kill him. "Possibly," he acknowledged, finally dragging himself out of his thoughts. "But this could be particularly dangerous. I won't have you put at risk." He moved to her and she stepped into his arms.

"I am safe as long as I'm with you," Belle told him. Her faith was touching, if probably misplaced. Still, he was determined to do what was necessary to see that she was safe, that he did nothing to disappoint her. Once she remembered, it might be a different story, but he would deal with that when it came time.

"I will certianly not let anything happen to you if it is in my power to prevent it. But for the rest, yes, there are a few things I need to do, still, well, there is a little research that should not interfere with our evening too much."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of those who are still reading this. THings have been a bit crazy. Please comment and let me know you are still out there.


	15. Solutions

The diner was fairly busy, which kept Booth from worrying too much about what was happening. Things were getting complicated. His father had come for dinner, plain fare, this world's equivalent of the food they had always had at home. It was hard. "New employee, eh?" he'd asked Granny. "Looks like a hard working boy," he said approvingly. His father had always been friendly. "Getting your traveling out of the way, this is a good thing, before you settle."

August agreed, and then turned to clear the table vacated by Doctor Whale and a nurse from the hospital. Apparently the doctor fancied himself the town's resident Don Juan. It was easier to work and not be close to his father.

The door opened and Emma came in with the mayor behind her. "What are _you_ doing here?" Regina asked with distaste.

"Working, Ma'am," he said, picking up the bus tub and smiling at her. "Excuse me." Back in the kitchen he drew a breath. Being close to the Evil Queen made him nervous, even though he knew that she neither knew him, nor knew that he knew anything, though she might suspect. She probably suspected him of a lot of things. Of course she suspected anyone and everyone, especially Rumplestiltskin, so August figured he was probably beneath her notice, especially with what had happened today.

"I want a burger and fries," Emma announced, barely looking at the menu. "And hot chocolate with cinnamon."  Her mother was looking at her cell phone again, angrily, as if it had somehow offended her. She'd been doing that on and off since Emma had gotten home. "Hey Mom, you expecting a call or something? Don't you want to order? I'm hungry."

Regina looked up at her as if she hadn't heard anything, which she hadn't. "What, Cora?"

"What's with the phone? You're always saying that it's rude to have it out at the table," she reminded her.

"Yes, well, it's business," Regina snapped. "I called the sheriff about some numbers for the council meeting."

"Looking for the sheriff?" Ruby asked, coming to take their order. "He was here earlier, had a bad headache. He probably got Fred to cover and went home. He didn't look like he was feeling good. Hope he's not coming down with something."

Regina glared at her, but said, "ahh, that's probably it. Cora, what do you want?"

They ordered, Regina paying no attention to what her daughter was eating. That was Emma's clue. She knew her mom was worrying about something, probably a bunch of somethings. Time for her to do that distraction thing. "Mom," she said quietly. "You know you and the sheriff?"

"The sheriff and I what?" Regina asked, looking at the phone again.

"I know about you two. It's okay, I don't mind, just... I thought if you thought I might have a problem with...you know. I like him."

"You...what do you mean?" Regina moved closer to her daughter.

"Come on, Mom, I'm not a little kid," she said. "I know you're dating or whatever. I just wanted you to know that it's okay with me if you want...I mean..." she faltered a little. Emma'd been planning this conversation for a while, saving it, but it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. Especially now that she knew her mother wasn't who she'd thought she was.

"So you think that Sheriff Graham and I...What makes you think that?" Regina asked carefully. She had always been careful or thought she had. It wouldn't do her image around town any good if it was known that she was sleeping with the sheriff. Besides, it wouldn't do for Cora to know and possibly get attached, or so she told herself. It wasn't as if they were having a relationship, not that he could, not properly. What they were doing was.... _There is no relationship if there is no free will, what you are doing is.._.She clamped down on those thoughts. She'd managed to avoid considering the ethical and moral ramifications of her actions for this long, she could manage forever if necessary. Regina didn't need a relationship, no emotional entanglements. Her mother had always said that love made you weak, and the Evil Queen was not weak. She dragged herself back to look at her daughter. Cora was giving her _that_ look.

"Seriously? Mom, I'm not stupid you know. I know...things. I just wanted you to know you didn't have to hide it. I mean as long as you're not kissing in front of me and stuff," the girl shuddered, reminding Regina of when she had found out what her parents...it was probably something that all children felt about their parents.

She smiled, just a little. Would it be so bad? It wouldn't be real, but...No, she decided, she could think about that later. Right now, there was dealing with her daughter and her unfortunate timing. Now, in the diner was _not_ the place to have this conversation. Too many people were around. Plus there were too many things going on to be worried about, the stranger who was even now clearing dishes from the front counter, Snow White and Charming had, despite her spell, found each other again, and then there was Rumplestiltskin. No one in the hospital seemed to know how the imp's housekeeper had been found, much less gotten out, and only Rumplestiltskin even knew who she was. Then there was Graham. It wasn't like him to ignore her summons, and the timing was interesting. Perhaps the annoying wolf girl was right and he was in his apartment trying to sleep through some kind of illness. But that, at least she could tend to later. Perhaps she would go look in on him after Cora was in bed. She considered that for a moment, then turned back to her daughter. "We can discuss this another time, _**at home**_."

"Okay," Cora agreed as the hamburger was set down in front of her, and Regina realised that the girl had managed to order a large plate of greasy food right in front of her while she was distracted.

"You know that is not..."

"Good for my complexion, yeah, mom, I know."

 

Jefferson arrived early at the big Victorian. The sorcerer had decided the Hatter was of more use for this than young Mr. Booth. Besides, the boy could be more helpful at the diner, keeping an eye on the mayor and her cronies. Her schedule was pretty strictly maintained.  If she was doing something different, he needed to know about it, and immediately.

"Belle, making yourself right at home," Jefferson said as she admitted him through the kitchen door, where she was putting the finishing touches on breakfast.

"Mr. Jefferson, would you like..." She gestured towards the table.

"Just Jefferson, my dear, and I would not say no to a bite. Where is Rumple?" he asked.

"He is in the cellar. He said to tell you he needed a couple of things," she told him as she directed him to a chair and placed toast, eggs and bacon before him. Not being much of a cook himself, not to mention occasionally not safe with a stove, he started in with relish.

"How is the sheriff?" she asked.

"The hunter is sleeping the sleep of the innocent, free of all dreams." Belle gave him a slightly bemused look, then shrugged and went back to finishing the tea.

"That should be everything we might need," the sorcerer said as he came in with a leather satchel over his arm. "Belle..."

"Sit and eat, you will be better for it," she said. He sighed and sat down. Jefferson smiled behind the cup. Even without her memories, Belle still managed the sorcerer quite well. Of course, he would say nothing. The man had a long memory and would eventually have his magic back.  Jefferson wanted to be on his good side when that happened.  She set a plate before Rumplestiltskin and then joined them.

"Love," he started, but decided that it was not worth arguing and started to eat.

"So we are staging a daring daylight break in of a mausoleum?" the Hatter asked as he ate.

"I've no intention of breaking anything unless I have to," Rumplestiltskin said. "But as I told you last night, young Emma followed her adopted mother to the Mills mausoleum yesterday and found that it was not only locked, but could not be picked."

"You think it's where she hid the things..." Jefferson paused and looked at Belle. "The things she brought with her?"

"It would make a certain amount of sense. It's a good place to keep things you don't want found. Now," he said, standing up from the table. "We will need to be quick. Regina always makes breakfast for Emma and takes her to school so that she can be at the mayor's office by 8:00." He was looking at his watch.

"Right, and if you don't open the shop on time, someone will probably say something," Jefferson agreed, pushing back and taking his plate to the sink.

"Belle, I would like you to stay..."

"Stay here?" She cut him off. "No..."

"Sweetheart, what we are doing, at best it's illegal. Besides, I want you safe."

"I am safe where you are. I...I can be your lookout?" she suggested. "Please. I don't want to be here by myself. What if something happens to you?"

"That is exactly why I want you here safe."

Jefferson, sensing that he was neither needed nor wanted for this conversation, retreated to the back porch. He knew better than to meddle in the private affairs of any sorcerer, especially this one.

 

August Booth was clearing tables at Granny's with half a mind on other things. He'd gotten a call earlier, the sorcerer and his mad colleague were going after the mausoleum this morning without his help. He had been told to stay put and keep an eye on the comings and goings. It wasn't his favourite position to be in, but he had to admit that it made sense. Besides, did he really want to know what Regina kept in her mausoleum? Probably best that he and Emma hadn't got in yesterday, since neither of them would know what they were looking at anyway.

Looking out the window, August saw the mayor's sporty little Mercedes go past the diner. He looked at his watch, just on time. Sidney Glass, well known crony of the Evil Queen, was still sitting in a booth with the remains of his breakfast, his fifth cup of coffee, and several pages that he was busy marking up by hand with a red pencil. So far, so good.

 

Jefferson was not surprised when Rumple and Belle emerged from the house, though he wasn't going to comment. She was as strong willed as he was, and of course, he was reluctant to let her out of his sight. Leaving her alone at the house when Regina was running around free, it wouldn't be too hard for Belle to play on his concern for her safety to convince him to take her with them.

They made their way quickly to the cemetery, passing no one. It was quiet in the morning, of course it was a cemetery, so it was always pretty quiet. The one and only mausoleum stood alone in a far corner. The name Mills was enshrined on the dark stone. "Not ostentatious at all, then," Jefferson muttered as they stepped up.

Belle was hidden behind a tree nearby, keeping watch with Gold's cell phone, in case of emergency. "I'm surprised you didn't give her that little pistol you have in your pocket," Jefferson said as the sorcerer looked back at her.

"I would have done, if I'd thought she would take it." He reached into his bag and pulled out an iron skeleton key. "Let us see what she has done, shall we?" he said, inserting it into the lock and turning. Nothing happened. "Interesting. The wooden boy is right, this is not a normal lock."

"What do you think she did?" the Hatter asked. He wasn't entirely comfortable being out in the open.

"Well, if I were her, and concerned that someone might stumble upon this place by accident, or on purpose, meaning me, of course, I would make certain that no one else in town could open in. In this world, in fact."

"Blood magic," Jefferson said. "Damn, there is nothing..."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Rumplestiltskin said with a familiar smile. He reached into the satchel and pulled out a small glass phial filled with red liquid. "She forgets who taught her."

"How did you..." Jefferson started to ask.

"When she was my apprentice. Where do you think she got that trick?" He cast a quick look back at Belle, who was watching the rest of the cemetery. "This should be simple enough."

Moments later he swung the door open and the two of them slipped inside. He pulled the door almost closed behind them.

"Not a chance that these are Regina's family," Jefferson said looking around.

"There are only two that she might bother with," Gold said. He read the inscriptions. "Her father and Daniel, who was once her lover. The rest will be fake. Time to search and we need to be quicker than I would like."

 

Belle stood clinging to the tree nervously, the phone clutched tight in one hand. She didn't like being where she was, but going in with them would not have served her argument that she was useful as a lookout. Besides, just knowing that the two of them were only on the other side of the door made her feel safer. There were some other things going on, and she knew that Rum wasn't telling her everything. He'd explained it as part of avoiding pushing her to remember. Still, she didn't like the idea of being left out. Too long she had been hidden away from the world, now she wanted to do something. Still, Rum had assured her that what they were doing would help the man who had come into the shop, save his life even, and while he didn't have the same familiarity, she knew him. She just didn't know why. It seemed like they had been in there forever when she heard the door open behind her.

Belle cast a quick glance over her shoulder and saw them exiting. They were both smiling. "Time to go, sweetheart," Rum told her. "We have what we need. Things are about to get very interesting. Not much longer now." With that enigmatic statement, he took her arm and they hurried back to the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have been in a bit of a writing slump since my mil left (not to mention an annoying stomach bug). So, not a lot of updates, so I hope you will accept a long one. Please leave a comment in the little box so I know that you are still out there, and let me know what you think.


	16. The heart of the matter

The two men joined Belle and hurried back to the house. Despite the smiles when they emerged, they had been having a very quiet argument the entire time, or rather, Jefferson had been trying to have the argument and Gold had been ignoring him. But once they were inside, it burst out. "You should have let me take it," he said.

"It would have been too obvious. We don't want her knowing that we've found her little hiding place, do we?" Gold snapped back. "You know where it is and that it's safe. She can't use it, and right now, neither can you."

"What if I went back, replaced it with..."

"I'm not sure that is a really good idea. Every time there is a greater risk of being caught out, or her noticing. Think of your daughter, Jefferson," the old sorcerer said quietly, putting a hand on his arm. That was the one appeal that almost always cut through the rest.

"You _owe_ me," the Hatter accused.

"And I always pay my debts," he agreed. "Perhaps..." He paused, clearly following the various possibilities in his head. "If it is safe, I will help you retrieve it, after we see how this works out. But for now, I need to sort this bit out. I've written a set of instructions for the sheriff when he wakes up, give them to him. The lad is not a natural liar. I need to make sure he knows exactly how to play the game."

"Do you know what to do about his memory? That is the part that could give the whole thing away." Jefferson was, if not happy with the answer, then willing to trust Rumplestiltskin for a little while longer.

"I have an idea about that. It involves this," he said pointing to the bag with a devious smile that the other man knew well. "And of course our little princess."

 

Emma was impatient and distracted at school all day. She was regretting letting August talk her out of going to Rumplestiltskin with him. She hated the thought that she might miss something. Even if it meant risking getting grounded.

The minute they were dismissed, she rushed out of the class, heading for the door.

"Cora, wait up," Paige called. "We going to Granny's? We can get a start on that English homework."

Paige was her best (well, only, really) friend and she hated that there was so much she couldn't tell her about everything. But it really wasn't the right time. Especially now. "Listen, I've got to do something first, super secret."

"Like how secret?" Paige asked suspiciously, walking fast to keep pace.

"Like the weird stuff at the hospital, finding out about my real parents kind of secret." She had told her best friend about finding out she was adopted and that Mr. Gold was helping her find out about them. It was about the only thing she could share, after all. It was a close as she could get, not wanting Paige to think she had gone crazy, at least. Besides, her friend wasn't afraid of Gold like everyone else.

"So cover for you at the diner?" Paige, who knew her friend well, asked.

"Exactly."

 

Graham Humbert had woken up on the eccentric Jefferson's settee feeling better than he had in a week at least. The man had given him a cup of tea ('just the straight stuff thing time, promise') and a careful set of instructions from Mr. Gold, involving exactly what to do and how. Since he had nothing to lose, and he had to admit that the pawnbroker had been right so far, he'd decided to follow them.

He'd got back to his apartment, where he had cleaned up and returned Regina's dozen phone calls. "Where were you?" she demanded.

"I...think I had migraine. I've not had one before, but my head hurt so badly that I couldn't see. Either that or I'm coming down with something. I took some medication and put myself to bed. I had to turn the ringer off on the phone." He'd held his breath. Regina's temper had always been uncertain. It was one of the reasons he wondered why he kept going back to her.

"Are you feeling better?" she'd asked after a long pause. For once she sounded as if she actually cared.

"Better, yes," Graham had answered. 'Be careful around Regina, try to avoid spending time with her,' the instructions had read. "Not completely well, but I'm able to see clearly again. Enough to get back to work."

"Perhaps you shouldn't. Wouldn't want to get people sick," Regina had told him, clearly disappointed. More likely she had wanted them to meet for...well, she wouldn't risk getting sick or making Cora sick for a quick shag.

"I'll go carefully. If I'm not feeling myself tomorrow, I'll make an appointment with the doctor," he had reassured her. So far so good. At least she seemed to have accepted it. Then it was just a matter of going about his normal business until he heard from Gold.

In the end, he decided that patrolling in the car was best. That he was feeling better was true, but he felt that perhaps if he could avoid other people, the strange visions or bits of memory or whatever, would subside. It had worked well enough. Now he was headed for the pawnshop for what Gold had told him might be the answer for his problems.

 

 

Gold was in the back of the shop. "I need to make some preparations, love. Watch the counter and send Emma and the sheriff back when they come?" he requested. He didn't much like leaving her behind the counter alone, even with just the curtain between them, but she didn't need to see what he was doing, and besides, he'd had more business. Most of it was curiosity about Belle, but they were smart enough to keep it polite. The more people that knew they were together, the safer she was. But right now would be a very bad time to be interrupted.

Belle went outside to sweep the front of the shop, when she saw the princess lurking down the alley. Cautious girl, but then, Belle knew that she was just as afraid of her mother finding out about her visits to the pawnshop as Rum was. Belle gave a good look around and nodded to the girl, who darted up and into the door as Belle held it open and followed her back in.

"So, you're like Gold's girlfriend or something, right?" Emma asked. Sure, he called it True Love, complete with capital letters, like the storybook, but the girl wasn't entirely sure about any of that love stuff. She'd only recently accepted that not all boys were gross.

"Something like that, or so they tell me," Belle answered with a smile.

"Ummm, he said my mom, well my adopted mom, that she...ummm...I'm sorry," Emma finished lamely, having lost what she wanted to say in the middle. But Belle didn't seem to mind.

"It's not your fault, you don't need to apologise. Thank you though. He's waiting for you." Emma was glad of the escape, and she rushed through the curtain. Belle seemed nice enough but it was kind of embarrassing.

 

 

"So that's..." Emma said as she stared at the object in the box that Gold told her they had taken from the hiding place inside the mausoleum.

"The sheriff's heart, yes," he agreed. He could see that she was very close to full belief, the sort of belief that would break the curse, which was even now shuddering against it.

"How did you get it? What if my mom finds it's gone? What..."

"Enough," the sorcerer cut her off. "How I got it is unimportant, and as to the other, well, if she goes looking, she won't find it missing," he smiled wickedly.

"Not going to ask. I...why isn't it more...wet and gross?"

"That's magic for you. It protects it out of the body. If you squeezed it, it would crumble to dust. With someone's heart, you have complete control over them. They have no will of their own. But this is all getting away from the important things." He didn't want her thinking too closely about what it meant that Regina had Graham's heart. It would occur to her soon enough, and he hoped that it was after the curse was broken and he didn't have to be the one to explain it. Leave that to the Charmings. "Now, what I need you to do is tell me exactly what happened the other night when the sheriff caught you sneaking in."

 

Graham came into the pawnshop and was greeted by the woman called Belle, the one who looked so familiar to him, and yet not.

"Sheriff," she greeted him.

"I...Miss Belle," he said realising that he had no idea what her surname was. "Gold called and..."

"Go into the back," she told him with a reassuring smile. Really, the man looked haunted, she thought. But Rum said he thought he had an answer for them. The sheriff stepped through the curtain and was surprised to see Cora standing with Gold at his worktable over a box which the man pulled the cover over. "Ahh, the last person we need. Sheriff, how are you feeling?"

"No more strange visions, or memories, if that's the question. You said you might know what..."

"I have what might be a solution," the pawnbroker told him. "However, there may be some...side effects. Are you sure you want to try this?"

"I want to do whatever it takes to keep me from feeling like I'm losing my mind or actually losing it. But you don't do anything for nothing," Graham accused. Not that Gold had ever done anything to _him_ , but he'd heard the stories. Of course, he'd never needed a deal from him before.

"You are absolutely correct," the man agreed amicably. "I don't. Everything has a price. But, in this particular case, the price is being paid by someone else, someone with a very long running tab. Now, do you want to try this or not? Make up your mind, dearie, I've not got all day."

There was something about that voice...it wasn't quite right. He pushed that away. He couldn't let himself get dragged in. "What do I need to do?" Graham asked with a sigh. He hated the feeling that he was being used, but his choices were slim and none.

"You, very little. But you had best go over by the bed," he suggested.

"Why?"

"The effects might be sudden," Gold told him. "Just close your eyes and try to relax."

"Now?" Emma asked. She was staring at the glowing red object in the box with a kind of green look.

"Now. Focus the way I told you." She lifted it out of the box.

Graham started. He felt a sudden warmth, like he had been cold for years. "What...". Emma kissed the glowing surface. "Was that it? I don't..." Then the world fell in on him.

Fortunately, Gold was watching. He caught the taller man with more strength than most would credit him with and directed his fall onto the bed. "Well, that was dramatic," he said, as he checked the man's pulse.

"Ugh. Was that supposed to happen? I mean, I didn't hurt him, did I?"

"Not at all. Put that back in the box and put the lid on," he ordered. "You've not hurt him, or not permanently anyway. I suspect that what you've done is wake him up, rather like you did me."

"But you didn't fall down or anything," she reminded him.

"That is because my awakening was built into the curse itself, a bit of a back door, you might say. Though I had a headache for the next several days," he admitted. "This is different. He should be fine when he wakes." _Physically, anyway_ , the imp thought. The rest was none of his business. Rumplestiltskin had absolutely no problem with driving a wedge between the Evil Queen and her stolen child, but explaining the moral and emotional implications of taking someone's heart to control them, that he wasn't going to explain, not and keep his lunch down. "You should be going though. Wouldn't do for Regina to find out about this, would it?" Emma looked at Graham. He was laying on the coverlet and he was breathing, she could see the rise and fall of his chest. It wasn't like she could do anything about it now, and he had a point. She nodded and left through the curtain just as Belle was coming back to find out what was going on. With a quick goodbye, she slipped out of the shop.

"What were you doing in there, young lady?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another post, a couple of answers, and I'm afraid, a cliff hanger. I got a bit on a roll. Enjoy and please leave a comment in the little box.


	17. Awakening

Emma jumped, startled, cursing under her breath. It was her mistake, she hadn't looked before she came out of the pawnshop, worried as she was about the sheriff. "Oh, it's you," she said, going for brazen. "I was just curious, I guess. You know, about that lady, the one with Gold. Besides, it was a dare. What's it to you, anyway?" she asked. Emma had never liked Sidney Glass, and they both knew it.

"Mine? None, but I'm sure that your mother has an opinion about it, a very strong one. She is going to be very interested." He reached out to take a hold of her arm, but she pushed his hand away.

"I don't have to go anywhere with _you_ , " Emma shouted. "You tell my mom whatever you want, but I'm going to the diner to meet Paige and do homework." With a lot more courage than she felt, she turned her back on Sidney and headed across the street. She was in trouble, but right now she didn't care. What she _did_ care about after all the things she had learned today, was getting Glass too busy with sticking his nose where it didn't belong that he didn't make inquiries in the shop.

Emma wasn't entirely sure what they were doing now. Gold had just told her that they would have to wait and see, that he would deal with it. But she knew that the addition of Sidney Glass wouldn't help the situation. Fortunately, he'd taken the bait, and was, even now turning his angry face towards the mayor's office. Time to get her story straight with Paige.

 

The huntsman's eyes flickered and then opened slowly. "Careful," a voice that sounded vaguely familiar said. "You might be a little disoriented." He looked up and saw Mr. Gold...no that wasn't right, he was...

"Rumplestiltskin."

"Got it in one, dearie. I take it from that you've got your memories back?"

"I...I don't know. My head hurts, and everything feels jumbled," he said, as he tried to sit up. The sorcerer offered him a hand, which he accepted. Part of him was saying he shouldn't trust the man, but that part was warring with the bits and pieces that said he had been in thrall to the Evil Queen, no, the mayor...and they were enemies... He closed his eyes and tried to will the pain away.

"Here you are.  A cup of tea will help."  A woman's voice caused him to open his eyes suddenly.

"Belle? Did you escape? I wanted to help you but..." He looked earnestly at her, trying to sort out what he was trying to say.

"Belle doesn't have her memory, Huntsman," the sorcerer said, a warning tone in his voice. "Drink your tea, and she's brought some headache tablets. Belle, love, I need you to keep an eye on the shop. It is vital that we are not interrupted, and while Regina cannot come in, it would be just as bad if anyone knew he was here."

"Of course," she said, moving to stand next to the pawnbroker, smiling at him. "But you will tell me about this later?" Rumplestiltskin laid a gentle hand on her arm and nodded. Graham turned to the tea and the tablets, so as not to interfere.

But once she was back through the curtain, the older man turned back to him, lowering himself into a chair and moving it to face the cot on which Graham sat. "What do you remember?" he asked urgently.

"I...everything, I think. It's still confused. I seem to have two conflicting sets of memories for some things. I know I am Graham Humbert, Sheriff of the town of Storybrooke, Maine but I'm also the Huntsman, and I serve the Evil Queen, though not willingly. It's....I know both of those things are absolutely true, but..." He turned quickly, taking stock of his surroundings. "She took my heart," he said raggedly, losing whatever semblance of calm he'd had, as he turned pale and then green.

"There is a bucket beside you, if you don't mind. I've no desire to have to clean up after you." The sorcerer said carefully, pointing to the plastic container next to the cot, then quickly and deliberately turned his back to give the man some privacy as he was suddenly and violently sick.

 _Don't blame him_ , Rumplestiltskin thought. It was a disconcerting sensation, having one's heart removed, even when you were expecting it. It seemed Graham's memories were intact and some just a little too clear. He winced as the man retched again.

When the noises had subsided into ragged breathing and sobs, he turned back around. "Here then." He handed him a snow white handkerchief. "Bathroom is through there if you think you can stand safely. Get yourself cleaned up and composed, and then we will talk further."

Gold rose and made his way to the front of the shop to check on Belle. Give the man a little time to get himself pulled together.

 

"Well, all good?" Paige asked when she slipped into the booth opposite, grateful for her friend's cleverness in taking the booth instead of the counter like they normally did. She'd justified it by spreading both of their homework across the table.

"No, not good," Emma said quietly. "Sidney Glass caught me as I came out. He's off to rat me out to my mom."

"What did you tell him?" Paige asked, hoping she wasn't getting her own self in trouble, or at least not in too much trouble.

"I said that it was a dare, to find out something about Belle."

"The woman with Gold, got it. I dared you to ask if she was his girlfriend?" she suggested.

"Nah, I dared you to go speak to her, and then you double dared me back to ask if she was his girlfriend. You're too much of a good girl, no one will figure you started it," Emma reminded her. "But everyone knows I'm too curious." She leaned ever closer across the table. "I wonder if I should tell...you know." She nodded in the direction of the pawnshop. "In case she calls to yell at him or something?"

At that moment they were interrupted by August. "Ruby said to bring this to you?" he asked as he set the cup of hot chocolate in front of her.

Inspiration struck. "Thanks, but better make it a double. I might be grounded for a while." She looked at August significantly and hoped he caught on, especially since she knew she was way short on time.

"Oh?" he asked.

"I went into Gold's shop on a dare to ask the lady something, just curious you know? But Gold caught me, and now he's probably going to complain to my mom. Then I got busted by Sidney Glass coming out. He knows I'm not supposed to be there and he's a complete snitch." The young man looked at her for a moment, then nodded.

"What? Gold doesn't like kids in his shop?" he asked, the kind of curiosity expected of someone new in town.

"Gold doesn't like a lot of things," Ruby said as she passed by on her way to another table. "People in his business is one and I'm pretty sure that the lady counts." Then she was gone.

"Plus, he and my mom don't really get along."

"Yeah, that's like the understatement of the year. Can you stop talking? If you are going to get grounded, I'd like to get this history project figured out and at least started first," Paige insisted.

"You can always come and finish it at my house. You know I'm allowed to have people over if it's for school work."

"No thanks. All your mom ever has for snacks is apples. As much time as she spends on that tree she might as well marry it." They settled into familiar bickering over their work. But Emma watched as August put the bus tub down and signalled his going out back for a break. Message received.

 

"Better?" Rumplestiltskin asked as he came back through the curtain, having received a message from the wooden boy about the princess's troubles, and having judged that appropriate time had passed to allow a return of dignity. The sheriff was again sitting on the cot. The tablets were gone and he was sipping the tea slowly to make sure it was going to stay where it was put.

"I think so. Things are starting to sort themselves out in my mind a little, but it's still a little confusing. The curse, she cast it?" he asked. "My memories of the end are still a blur."

"Yes, Regina cast the curse that brought us all here and erased our memories."

"Then how do you remember? And what about Belle? She was a prisoner in the winter palace when the curse came, at least I think so." He was clearly trying to organise his memories into some coherent form.

"My memory is neither here nor there. Suffice it to say, I was prepared. Belle was rescued very recently from Regina's clutches, but with no memories, even fake ones," he said. "Now, let us turn to your problem. You were not meant to wake yet. No one was, but it seems that the process has begun and once things were set in motion..." He shrugged. "So..."

"Why are you helping me? What do you want?" the sheriff asked, resigned.

"My reasons are my own. I am sure you would not prefer me to throw you to Regina's tender mercies." Rumplestiltskin said.

"It doesn't matter," Graham told him. "I'm a dead man anyway. Regina will crush my heart if she thinks that I am plotting against her. I have done things..." He shivered and looked for a moment like he was going to be sick again.

"Pull yourself together," Rumplestiltskin ordered. "Your heart is safe, or safe enough. Regina no longer has it. That is the good news. Unfortunately, I cannot put it back right now."

"How..." he started to ask.

"Never you mind about that, lad. There are other things to worry about. We have plans to make." The sorcerer's smile somehow failed to reassure the huntsman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I managed to get another one finished. THank you all, and please, let me know what you think. You know what to do....


	18. Consequences

Emma left the diner at the expected time, surprised that she hadn't heard from her mom. Actually not hearing from her made the girl more nervous. It meant she was saving it up to yell at Emma when she got there, kind of a private ambush. Still, she went into her mother's office like there was nothing wrong.

"Cora Henrietta Mills," her mother started the minute she had the door closed.

 _Uh-oh, all three names_ , she thought. _This is going to be worse that I expected_.

"Where have you been?" Regina asked.

"At Granny's with Paige working on our history project. You know, the school library really doesn't have..."

"And what were you doing before that?" she asked sharply, leaning over her desk, looking more like the Evil Queen in the book that she ever had before.

"Sidney came and tattled." Emma decided that attack was the better option. "It was just a stupid dare, I was only there for a minute when Mr. Gold threw me out," she said defensively. "It was no big deal."

"Except that you are absolutely _never_ to go into that shop? _**Never**_ , you understand? I thought I made that clear. I don't want you near Gold at all," Regina said angrily. "Mr. Gold called me as well. He was not very happy either. And this is the wrong moment to push him."

"Because you are fighting with him? But you _hate_ Mr. Gold, so why do you care if he's happy?" Emma asked. She didn't think there was any way out of the grounding that was coming, but she wasn't going to make it easy.

"That doesn't matter," Regina snapped. "He is a very dangerous man. What was so important that you went against my rules?"

"It was a dare," she mumbled.

"A what?" her mother asked.

"Paige double dared me to ask that lady if she was Gold's girlfriend," Emma repeated. "It's not like everyone in town isn't curious. Aren't you?"

"What did she say?" Emma could see something in her mother's eyes, that was...well, she had been having trouble with what she was learning about the woman that raised her, but more and more, she couldn't ignore it, especially after Belle, and today with the sheriff.

"No...nothing."  She paused, suddenly nervous.  "I started to asked her, she seems nice enough, and then he came out of the back. He said something about curiosity and spying not being ladylike traits, and then told me that he knew I wasn't supposed to be there. Then he told me to get out and not come back. So I left and that creepy Sidney Glass was outside snooping. Can't you tell him to leave me alone? I mean, I know he likes you, Mom, but if you _have_ to have a boyfriend, I really like the sheriff. Sidney's just..." Emma figured that it was as good a way as any to distract her mom. Regina had avoided the subject as much as she could.

"I am _not_ dating Sidney Glass, and even if I was, it wouldn't be any of your business. What is this sudden interest in whether or not I am dating? Regardless of what it is, none of it is going to get you out of being grounded."

"But Mom, it was a double dare," Emma said for form's sake.

"That doesn't matter. You should never have taken that dare, or any other one, knowing it involved breaking your rules. One week, and..." Regina stopped when there was a knock on the door. "Don't think this is over, young lady," she said, before calling for whoever was at the door to come in.

Standing in the door, the sheriff looked a little pale, giving credence to his story that he had been sick. Emma tried not to show her relief. When he had collapsed, she had been frightened, but Gold told her that it might happen.

"Grah...sheriff, I was not expecting you so early." Regina paused. She had been wanting to see him, but not here, not like this with Cora already asking awkward questions. Regina stood and walked to him. Behind her, Emma was watching, looked a little disturbed by his appearance.

Graham caught her expression and winked quickly over Regina's shoulder.  She got it, he was playing. She wan't sure she understood what exactly it was she had been doing, though Gold had insisted on explaining at least part of it to her, more than she wanted. Emma was angry with her mother too, but she couldn't really show it without giving everything away. Emma hated that her mother, the woman that had raised her, was really the villain. Sure, everyone _thought_ their parents were the bad guys at least some of the time, but hers was the real thing. The Evil Queen, just like the fairy tale, she ripped people's hearts out of their bodies, or at least one that she knew about. Admittedly, she only had Mr. Gold's word about what he had seen and where he had gotten it. But no, that didn't work, she knew he wasn't lying, it was her superpower after all. That left her with nothing but the conclusion that it was all true.

That meant that she, Cora, Emma, whoever the hell she was, she had held the sheriff's real heart in her hands and well...the thought made her a little queasy. She'd tried to think about it as little as possible, especially when she was doing it. Emma bit back on the nausea that came up on her along with the details she had been trying to forget, pretending to focus on the rest, on getting caught by Sidney, on homework and getting herself out of being grounded forever, but she couldn't run from it, especially since the sheriff was undoubtably back up and around, standing at the door.  Whatever it was that she had done, it'd had a very real effect.

"Cora?" the sheriff asked. Regina turned around to see her daughter go pale and a little green.

"We'll talk about..." Regina waved him away vaguely and she turned to her daughter.

"Of course. I hope she doesn't have whatever it was I've had. If you need anything..." he left it there as the mayor turned to her daughter.

"Cora, are you all right?" Regina asked, putting a hand to her forehead.

Quickly, Emma decided it was best to go along, besides, she wasn't feeling very good, just not for the reasons her mother thought. "Not so good. I was just sitting here and I started feeling like I was going to puke."

"Don't say 'puke," Regina admonished absently. "A lady doesn't use that word. You might be a little warm."

"Okay, I felt sick, I kind of still feel sick. Maybe it's something going around, like the sheriff said?" she asked.

"Possibly, but let's get you home and into bed. I'll make you some soup for dinner. But don't think I've forgotten about your punishment." Her mother was trying to sound stern but she was failing. Instead, with a little help from the sheriff, who reminded her that there was a good chance that if she was sick, he already had whatever bug it was, Cora was gotten into the car.

Regina allowed the help, all the while worrying about her daughter, and perhaps a bit about Graham. Not that she _loved_ the man. He was handsome enough, and good in bed, that was all that she needed him for, or so she told herself. But she _did_ care about him, just a little.

"I don't suppose you have seen Gold recently?" the mayor asked, as she slipped into the driver's seat. It was the last place before the diner that she knew Cora had been and while she wasn't a big fan of Granny or her food, if there was something there, half the town would already be sick.

"Mr. Gold? No, not since I paid my rent last week," Graham said. "Except when he came into the diner on Saturday with that mystery girl. I don't really have a lot of use for antiques and I know better than to make a deal with him."

Regina seemed to have lost interest already. She nodded and then started the car and turned to her home. No, it would be too much to hope that it came from Gold, or that he and his little chit both had the illness. The imp was immortal or practically, curse or no curse. Now, rather than the planned evening with the sheriff, it was going to be children's aspirin and chicken soup, dry toast, and not, hopefully, cleaning up after Cora.

To be honest, though she would never admit it to anyone, Regina didn't hate it as much as she pretended, though it hadn't been easy at first.  Her mother had never been there to hold her hand when she was sick. Actually, she hadn't had a lot to do with raising Regina until she was a teenager, leaving her daughter's care in the hands of a slew of nannies, ones that were usually gone just as she was starting to get attached to them. It was only when she was older that Regina had realised that was her mother's plan. Cora wanted to keep her from getting attached, from being 'weakened' by caring for another person. Her mother might have been right, Regina reflected, but she wasn't going to treat her daughter that way. Cora might have destroyed her chance at happiness with her true love, but this little girl, the baby that she had taken as an act of revenge was so much more than that now, and she had sworn to herself that she was not going to make her mother's mistakes.

 

"I managed," Graham said into the cell phone after he watched Regina and her daughter drive away.

"And how was that?"

"The princess, she came to my aid, came over all queer. Regina thinks she must have caught whatever she thinks that I had. I've no idea why though."

"I wouldn't worry about the girl. I suspect that the enormity of it all, and her role it, is finally hitting her fully," Gold replied. "The question is, are you going to be able to do what is necessary to fool Regina into thinking you are still under her control?"

Graham swallowed hard. He knew what he needed to do, but the thought made him feel sick all over again. "Don't have much choice, do I? At least until the curse is broken."

"No, you don't," he said as he hung up the phone. Much to do. The sheriff and Emma had given him an idea. He dialled a familiar number. "Jefferson, I have something I need from you. I need to start a minor plague."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here is a little more of the story. I am loath to promise anything as far as updates, since life keeps getting in my way, but I will say I hope that things go better for the next few weeks. Please do the thing, with the button and the words to tell me what you think...please.


	19. Lost and Found

"Hey Dove, what are you doing here?" the bartender at the Rabbit Hole, Storybrooke's resident dive bar, asked, as the big man came in wheeling a dolly full of boxes

"Delivery," the other man said, handing over a clipboard. Dove was known as a man of few words.

"Oh? Where's Leroy?" he asked, taking a quick look at the invoice. Not that it was too weird. Dove mostly worked for Gold, but he picked up other jobs here and there, usually with Leroy for things that needed more muscle.

"Sick," the man said, rolling towards the storeroom.

"Yeah, heard something was going around. Get you a beer? Good for protection against germs."

"No." Dove turned and picked up the clipboard. "More deliveries." Then he was gone.

 

The town of Storybrooke seemed to be in the middle of a minor epidemic. It wasn't serious, just headache and stomach upset lasting a couple of days. The grocery store, drug store, and Granny's were all out of ginger ale, and Doctor Whale at the hospital said it was nothing to worry about, just a stomach bug, and told people they should stay home if they started feeling ill, drink lots of fluids, and get some rest. Then, he turned around and took his own advice, retreating to his own house. The diner changed the soup of the week to chicken and was doing a bang up business in takeaway.

With Cora sick and several others, Regina had convened a town council emergency meeting as a conference call. "Let's not spread any more germs," she had said to the rest over her speaker phone, having established that it was legal to take a vote with Gold, an awkward enough telephone conversation.

'Think of it this way, it also avoids a certain awkwardness,' the sorcerer told her. 'I'm still a member of the council, but you know as well as I that I will not have Belle left alone. Imagine trying to explain that.'  He'd laughed, and somehow she could hear the imp's mad cackle.

The council voted quickly and unanimously to cancel school for the rest of the week and all town events in the best interest of the citizens. No one wanted to get sick.

Regina spent three days taking care of her daughter, plying her with soup, toast, and baby aspirin. Of course, Cora, who was only pretending, had learned to palm the aspirin years ago. She was tired of playing sick after the first day, but as others started to get sick, she decided it had better look good. She wasn't entirely sure about the whole heart thing, or how that worked, but the more she thought about her adopted mom in terms of what Rumplestiltskin had told her, well, it worked to give her the proper sick look, but she decided she didn't want to think about it too hard.

The problem was she had some pretty ugly ideas, but the only one she could discuss them with would be Mr. Gold, and that was so not something she wanted to do. Just because he had helped did not mean she wanted to ask him about stuff, especially what she thought was probably sex stuff. It was too gross. It was bad enough when they discussed it at school.

On the third night, after her mom went to bed, she slipped out her window and down the ivy. It was time she talked to Rumplestiltskin about what they needed to do next, besides 'break the curse'. That part she got and she knew that she needed to do it. The problem was Emma didn't know how. She just hoped that he had figured out some kind of plan.

 

Gold, well, Rumplestiltskin, had left the shop closed for the day. With a good part of the town sick, or at home trying to avoid getting sick, no one thought it odd. Actually no one probably noticed, it not being  the end of the month. It had given him time at home with Belle. While her memory was gone, she was starting to recognise a few things. She knew the rug in the room he'd tried to give her, though, bless her, she still insisted that she wanted to sleep next to him and he admitted he'd not tried too hard to change her mind. She knew how he took his tea, and how Jefferson did as well, and she recognised a necklace that she'd had in the Dark castle. It wasn't much but it was a start. For the rest, they had spent time getting to know each other again.

The knock at the back door of his house late in the evening, then, was not welcomed. He strode towards the back door, determined to give whoever it was a piece of his mind, and inquire as to the state of their wills. However, when he opened it, the sheriff and Princess Emma were standing there looking at him, and he knew that, regardless of everything else, the brief bit of peace was over, and it was time. They needed to make plans. It was time to push the curse.

"Well, best come in then," he said abruptly. He didn't even ask how they had gotten together.  He'd not been expecting them exactly, but the curse was shuddering with the strain of Emma's growing belief. They just needed one final stroke to shatter it. Of course, for him, that was only the first piece. The next part needed to be put in place, and he was going to burn that bridge when he came to it. Eighteen years early caused more than a few disruptions to his carefully crafted plan, though he couldn't be too upset about it. After a moment's thought, he directed them to the table, and made two phone calls.

 

Leroy left the boarding house early. He was feeling a little surly (nothing new there) and looking forward to coffee at Granny's. He started down the stairs when he noticed a crumpled box sitting on the side. Curious, he opened it. It was full of big old beer steins, seven of them. He looked over the box, no marking, nothing to show where it had come from or who they belonged to. On the other hand, he had six other friends at the boarding house, so maybe someone found them and thought they'd be interested but no one was home. Shrugging, he took the box back up the steps and set it inside. The guys might like them, and finders keepers. If not, he could always go to Gold and see if they were worth anything.

 

Sidney Glass went to drop his trash into the can and take it out to the street. He had been lucky enough to avoid getting sick with everyone else, but he was trying to figure out how to make a good front page story out of it. Maybe something about how Regina shut things down for the public good, and a quote about public health? Making a mental note to call Whale and get a comment, he opened the lid of the can, and was irritated to find someone had been using it already. Who would be using his trash can and for what? He leaned down, careful not to get any part of his suit on the can, and pulled up an old brass lamp, the sort of thing they had in movies, usually involving rubbing them, and genies granting wishes. Still, it was probably pretty enough. He dropped the trash in the can and pulled it to the street, still holding the lamp. Without giving it too much thought, Sidney dropped it in the passenger seat of his car. It would look nice on his desk after he cleaned it up.

 

"Hey, look what I found when I went into the laundry room," Ruby Lucas said, holding up the large hooded cloak in her favourite shade of red to Ashleigh.

"Nice," the pregnant girl said. "I wonder where it..."

"Oh, I meant to show that to you Ruby. I found it in a box marked 'lost and found' yesterday when your grandmother asked me to clean and organise the store room," August said, coming through the door from the bed and breakfast. "There was some other stuff in there too, but considering the colour, I figured it must be yours. There's a nice hanging thing that would make a good crib mobile in there too, Ashleigh. I could probably help rig it for the baby?"

"Well, I don't recognise it, but it's definitely mine now. I think I owned something at least _like_ it once," Ruby said. "Come on, let's see what else is in there." She waved the pregnant girl to follow.

"It's on the shelf just inside the store room. I meant to tell you, but everything has been a little crazy." The two women nodded and headed back the way he'd come. _Two more down_ , he thought.

 

Rumplestiltskin smiled as Geppetto, well, Marco, left the shop carrying the big old clock to be 'repaired'. All was going to plan. He could feel the tension building. Soon it would unravel. Of course there was the other option, that Regina would realise that something was happening and come after him directly. That would result in quite possibly a spectacular end to things. After his trip into her vault, he had a very good idea what exactly she had and how much magic she could burn to call on, but he was not without his own little aces in the hole. Then there was his own special gift, but that was for tonight, when he was alone with Belle.

 

'You just have to give it to her' Gold had told Emma. 'Tell her that you think it's hers, that her father gave it to her'. The tension that he talked about with the curse was starting to be strong enough that Emma could feel it and it was starting to get to her. She knew it was her fault that it was still in effect. She wanted to believe, she really did, she wanted the strange sad man who was really Paige's father to have her back, for Belle to have her memory, and even more she wanted Rumplestiltskin to be able to put the sheriff's heart back where it belonged, which was so not a hat box in the pawnshop's back room. Ewwwww.

At the same time, despite everything, she loved her adopted mother, even though she was kind of a pain, and maybe sort of evil. Emma just couldn't see what her life would be without Regina Mills in it. Then there was the Mary Margaret and David part. They were her real parents, but she didn't really know them. Well, Mary Margaret sure, but David had been coma boy for her entire life. She'd only just met him.

"Hey Cora, you ready?" Paige asked, coming up beside her, breaking her thoughts. "It's weird being back in school, nice though. I think Mom's not used to having me around all the time anymore."

"Hey Paige, how would you feel if you suddenly found your real parents?" she asked. "I mean if you were adopted." Emma realised her mistake quickly and covered it. "I mean, would you want to get to know them?"

"Did Gold find your real parents?" Paige whispered excitedly, clearly thinking that was what it was about.

"I...he thinks so, but now I need to decide..."

"Hmmmmm," Paige said. She thought about it for a while as they walked towards the diner. That was why they were friends, Paige really thought about things. "Yeah, I think I would. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily want to _replace_ my other parents, not unless I found out they'd kidnapped me or something creepy like those movies."

Emma nodded, decision made. "Hey Paige, I found something when I was cleaning my room. Mom made me do it when I got better, you know how she is. Anyway, I think it's yours." The princess dug into her backpack and pulled out the old rag doll. She held it hard and concentrated, like Rumplestiltskin taught her. "I think your father made it for you."

 

In an upper room of a stone mansion overlooking Storybrooke, the mad man who had been watching through the high powered telescope sank to the floor, tears running from his eyes. Now it was beginning. "I hope you still want your poor broken father," he whispered to the empty room, almost like a prayer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, i don't know if anyone is still reading this, but I'm close to an end, so here goes. If you are still reading, drop me a line and let me know what you think.


	20. Compulsion

Regina Mills knew something was wrong. She had been feeling it for some time, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it, or she hadn't been able to at first. "Good morning, Madame Mayor," Albert Spencer, county prosecutor and member of the Storybrooke city council,  greeted her as he walked from Granny's diner towards his office with a cup of coffee. "Seems like the crisis has passed. I saw you taking Cora to school this morning. I presume she's better."

"Yes, she is, thank you for..." She paused as she noticed a ring on his finger, his signet ring. "Ah, that's an interesting ring," she said.

"This? Oh, yes. My father's. Actually it's been in the family for years. I dug it out while I was looking for a lost cuff link. Decided I might wear it."

"Ah, oh, yes." She stumbled through her goodbyes and headed for her office. _It means nothing. It probably came through with him_. But she couldn't shake the feeling. Instead of worrying about it, she put it aside in favour of the things that needed doing, things that hadn't gotten while Cora was sick. Sidney Glass called to get a good quote for the paper, and Whale to tell her that he was certain that the bug had run its course and things should be getting back to normal.

That distracted her for a while as she considered calling Graham. Unfortunately they both probably had too much work to do for them to get away for a little while in the afternoon, not that they hadn't before. Still, there was tonight.

The questions was how to handle it, with Cora already asking questions. _Could I invite him over to dinner with me and Cora? Should I?_ The question was more, did she want all the trappings of a relationship? She could force him to do anything she wanted, but she couldn't force him to love her, not really. It would only ever be illusion, and was that what she wanted? _Why would I? It isn't as if I **need** a relationship._ Love was weakness her mother always said, and she didn't love the man, of that she was almost sure.

Trying to get away from those uncomfortable questions, she tried to think of something else. Unfortunately that led her back to the strange sense of unease. Deciding that she needed to do something to get her mind off things, Regina grabbed her purse and went off to the grocery. After a week of chicken soup, Cora would probably want something else. On the way to the store, she spotted a flash of red, and almost missed the stop. _Where had Red gotten her cloak back from_? She tried to dismiss it. Regina had not kept track of the odd flotsam and jetsam that had come with them from their own realm. Every now and then, familiar things turned up. Still, two in one day? Or maybe she was just being more observant (or paranoid) than usual.

By the time the day was ending, the sense of unease had grown worse. To add to it, Cora was being really quiet at dinner, as if she was lost in her own thoughts. "How was school?" she asked her daughter.

"Ehhhh," Cora replied with a shrug and went back to eating her macaroni and cheese. Actually, Regina noticed that she seemed to be doing an awful lot of moving it around the plate, and very little eating. Since Cora loved macaroni and cheese, that was even weirder.

"Cora, are you feeling all right? Your stomach isn't upset again is it?" Regina reached over and put a hand against her forehead, but she didn't _feel_ warm.

"I'm fine, Mom," she said, looking at her plate. "Mom, tell me about my dad." Regina had not been expecting that question, not now. She paused and put down her own fork.

"What...why do you want to know?"

"I don't know. I guess you just never talked about him. I mean, Paige has a dad and a mom. Ava and Nicolas have a dad, but no mom, but their mom died. It's not the sheriff, is it?" she asked quietly.

"No!" Regina exclaimed. "I...no, Graham isn't...he's not your father."

"I do have one, right? You didn't like go to one of those places where you pick out of a book, did you?" Cora gave her a look.

"I...no, what? Where did you even hear about..." Regina didn't know what to say. She'd always known intellectually that Cora would start to ask questions one day, she just hadn't expected it to be today. Not on top of all the other things. She took a deep breath. "No, I did not go to..." Nope, there was no way she was ever going to say the words 'sperm bank' to her daughter. "I got you the usual way. Why would you think such a thing and how do you know there even are such places?"

"Television, Mom. You know, that thing in the den?"

"Don't get sassy with me, Cora Mills," her mother said.

"Seriously mom, sometimes you act like you think I'm stupid. I know where babies come from. It's really gross, but I know about it, we did it in school. So why won't you tell me about my father?" the little girl asked. "I don't even know his name, or have a picture, or know if I look like him." She stopped, and looked sullenly at her mother. "I'm tired. Can I be excused?"

Regina looked at her daughter. She knew Cora was angry with her because she wouldn't give her answers. but the truth was, she had never planned for this. Every time she thought about it, she tried to pretend it wouldn't happen. She needed time. "Yes, you can." Her daughter pushed her chair back. "Cora, I know you want to know, but I can't. I'm just not ready yet, okay?" She tried to smile at the girl.

"All right, Mom. I guess that's okay. But I'm not going to forget. I want to know." Then she kissed her mother's cheek and headed up to her room. Regina breathed a big sigh of relief and started wondering if she had something, anything in her vault, just enough magic to make a memory potion, to make Cora forget.

 

Graham looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He was standing there, shirtless, trying to swallow down the fear. "You can do this. You've done it before, lots of times. It's no different," he told his reflection. But it was and he knew it. Before, he had no will, he could not resist. Yes, she was a beautiful woman, objectively, if he had chosen her, if there was any will on his part. But as it was, the thought of going to her, of all the times he had over the years, it was almost enough the make him sick, again.

 _Don't think about it, just.._ They knew it might come to this, he knew, the madman knew, even Rumplestiltskin knew, he could see it in the old sorcerer's eyes. 'Regina is a beautiful woman, just concentrate on that,' he'd said, putting a hand on Graham's arm. They both knew what he wasn't adding, 'on the outside'. Compassion from Rumplestitlskin was pretty close to the last thing he was expecting, but it wasn't as if he could talk to anyone about this. He'd never been one for talking about his feelings, talking full stop if he was honest. But he couldn't put it off.

Graham splashed some water on his face and pulled the tee shirt over his head, grabbed his shirt and started buttoning it up, almost as if he thought that more layers would protect him, or delay the inevitable. But he couldn't let her know that her spell was broken, more, that she no longer controlled him. To do that was to endanger the very people who freed him.

 

Graham knocked quietly on the back door of the mayor's house. It was only a moment before Regina opened the door. She'd changed from her usual suit into a black robe, probably over something with lace, and she was holding a glass of wine. Inside, the sheriff cringed. He knew that look, knew that she was in a mood to at least pretend what they had was some kind of romantic relationship. Did she want that, he wondered, an actual relationship? If she did... But he decided that was not something to think about too closely. Once the curse was broken, he need never come when she called again.

"Come in," she said with a smile. "Wine?"

"Best not, I'm on duty still," he said softly. "You look beautiful."

"Glad you like it." He knew what was expected of him. He put his arms around her and kissed her. The taste of the wine almost enough to overwhelm the acid in his throat. "Let's take this upstairs."

They slipped up to Regina's bedroom quickly and closed the door. In his mind it rang like the sound of a dungeon door, or a trap closing over him. Then she reached for him, and pushed his jacket off. Graham tried to let his body just take over, following familiar patterns. The robe fell away and he realised he'd been right. Black lace showed her white skin to its best advantage. She unbuttoned his shirt and then moved over to lay on her bed. "Well?" she asked, looking at him.

Graham took off the shirt, dropping it to the floor before moving towards her on trembling legs. "Come now, suddenly shy?" she asked with a smile and a nod. He reached down to pull off his tee shirt, wondering why it felt so wrong. It was nothing she'd not seen before after all. He tried to smile, kept reminding himself that he used to enjoy this, or at least thought he had. Dropping the tee shirt to the floor, he stepped closer to the bed.

*Bbbrrrring* The loud sound shattered the silence. For a moment they both froze. Then he realised it was his phone. Regina nodded. _Probably afraid Cora will hear_ , he thought as he fumbled into his fallen jacket and grabbed it before it could ring again. "He...Sheriff Humbart," he said, gathering his wits.

"Graham, it's Ruby, I'm at the Rabbit Hole, you need to get down here. Leroy, Tom Clark and some of the others are drunk. Leroy just challenged Keith to a fight and it's getting out of hand," the young woman said. In the background he heard breaking glass. "Hurry."

"I need to go," he said to Regina, who had sat up. For a brief moment he thought she would refuse him and he would be forced to oblige. "Fight at the Rabbit Hole," he added.

"Go. We can try this again, maybe tomorrow night," she said, disappointment heavy in her tone. They both knew how suspicious it would be if he didn't go though. He grabbed his shirt and threw it on. Then, as an afterthought, he moved over and kissed her. _It's what the old me would have done_ , he thought. _Small enough price to pay_. As he tiptoed out of the house, he had never been so glad for a bar fight in his life.

Inside the house, a second door clicked shut as Emma crept back to her bed. She had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up to this point, this story, which when I started was just a bit of fun, has been pretty light. However, while it's still pretty tame, it does delve more into the Regina/Graham situation, which I just kind of needed to do. So, have fun, might want to put the te (or coffee) down. If you like it, or if you don't, let me know.


	21. Slow Change

Emma slipped into her bed and tried to pretend that she was asleep. Her mom, Regina, the Evil Queen, it was getting harder to ignore the things that she knew. But at the moment what she needed to do was pretend that she was asleep for when her mom looked in on her. She usually did, if it wasn't really late. Actually Emma was wondering why he left so soon, but what did she know about how long it took to do whatever it was that they were doing in her mom's room that she didn't want to think about. True to form, she heard the door open and her mom come in.

For a moment, she stood there in the dim light of the hall. Then she came in. Carefully, Regina straightened the bed covers, tucking her in and then kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, Cora, sweet dreams," she whispered before going out and closing the door.

Behind her, Cora wanted to cry. It was so complicated and confusing. She had decided during dinner to give her mother a choice, a chance to come clean about her origin. If Regina had said something, admitted that she was adopted, or even just said she couldn't talk about it, Cora could have accepted it. Instead, being the Evil Queen, the fairy tale villain she was, she'd lied. Everything, Cora's whole life, the town, it was all one biggest lie, the biggest lie ever. And yet, when her mom said she loved her, Cora knew that was the truth too.

The girl knew what she needed to do. First, she needed to break the curse. Then, when everyone was back to themselves, she needed to get to know her real parents. Not that she wanted to just leave. This was the only home she had ever known. But her mother, adopted mother, she needed something. Cora wasn't entirely sure what it was, but she knew that there had to be a way to get her to be better, to make her stop being a villain. Redemption, that was what her mother needed. The problem was, Cora was pretty sure that you had to want it for it to work. The question was, how to make her mom want it?

 

As things all around the town of Storybrooke were turning up, odd little bits and pieces that people had lost, forgotten about, or found, with a little help, Rumplestiltskin had been taking something very special from his hidden safe and tucking it carefully away. Then, he'd closed the shop, gathered Belle from where she was reading in the back, and returned home.

Belle knew something was happening. Not just the feeling, but the way he'd been acting, the smile that he couldn't quite hide. But when she asked, he'd simply said 'after dinner.' Belle was desperately curious, but she didn't want to ruin the surprise for him. She knew, or thought she knew, or maybe remembered how much he loved his little surprises. Still, it was hard not to rush through dinner with him occasionally giving her impish grins.

After dinner was finished, the table cleared and dishes done, Rum (Rumple, the madman, Jefferson, called him Rumple, there was something to that) led her into the other room. "I wish to show you something," he said as he handed her onto the settee and then joined her.

"What is it?" she asked as he pulled out the bag.

"Of all the things I have, the rare, valuable, or unusual, this is my greatest treasure," he said. "Besides you, of course." She blushed just a little as he opened the bag. For a brief moment, she looked in confusion at the nice, but ordinary enough cup he was holding. It even had a small... _It's chipped. It's just a cup..._ She could see herself pouring tea into that very cup. "My...It's my cup," she stumbled, the words tumbling over one another. "I mean it's your cup, the cup I broke," she said, reaching out to touch it carefully. "One of your greatest treasures?" she inquired in a whisper full of emotion. Somewhere inside, Belle felt something well up. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"When I...after you left, it was all I had of you. You were an all too brief spot of light in my life. Without you..." Rum trailed off, turning to look at her. "No, Belle, no tears, sweetheart, please. Perhaps I should not have shown it to you yet, if it's going to upset you." He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief but Belle threw herself into his arms, burying her head in his shoulder.

Rumplestiltskin just sat there, and held her close. He had no idea what to think or what to do, so he tightened his grip and waited. Finally the crying stopped and she looked up at him. "I don't know what happened, but I do know that I wanted to come home to you."

"It's no matter, sweetheart. You are here now, back with me. I will not let anyone take you away again, unless you want to leave." _Not at remain breathing_ , he thought, though he felt it was better not to say. Even in her current, memory impaired state, she was a very gentle soul, his Belle. "I'll just put this away," he said, reaching for the cup.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Leave it, and I'll make us some tea." Belle started to rise, but first she leaned down impulsively and kissed him. It was quick, almost over before he realised it and then she carefully took the cup from his unresisting hand and was gone to the kitchen while he sat there, trying to process it all.

Rumplestiltskin was brought out of his reverie by the sound of something clattering to the floor in the kitchen. He was up and through the door in seconds. "Belle are you all right?" he asked in concern.

"I yelled at you," she said. "I didn't mean to..."

"What? Belle, are you feeling all right? You haven't...Are you remembering something?" he asked moving quickly to her side.

"An empty heart and a chipped cup," she whispered. "I was...I can't remember. My head hurts."

"It's all right, sweetheart. Don't try to push it. Let's get you upstairs." He took her hand and led her towards the door.

"But the tea," she tried to argue, but he would brook no opposition.

"I'll tend to the tea, and get you some headache tablets. Let me take care of you."

"You always do," she told him.

 

Gold left her changing for bed and went back to the kitchen, briefly cursing another trip up and down the stairs. Part of him was elated that it was working, her memory was returning, but he hated the pain it was causing her. If there was a way to mitigate it, he would.

The old sorcerer was getting ready to take the tray upstairs when his cell phone rang. "Gold. This had best be important," he growled.

"It's begun," the sheriff said. "I just broke up a bar fight at the Rabbit Hole. Grumpy and his brothers decided to take on Nottingham, Gaston, that obnoxious friend of his, and few of the usual layabouts who were supporters of the Queen in the old world."

"Well, we knew there would be a few side effects. Actually, we were counting on it," he said. "It could be worse."

"It could have been. I was at the Queen's. She called for me," Graham said. It needed no further explanation.

"Serendipitous."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a little something to chew on. I've been tied up with board stuff and an adventure in transportation involving getting stuck in another state, but I'm alive, home, and back at the writing. You know what to do. I have enjoyed the comments, please keep them coming.


	22. Deals

In the morning, Belle was still suffering from headache. Gold was worried, suggesting that she allow him to have the doctor in, or stay home with her. "You can't just leave the shop closed," Belle told him. "It's just a headache, or maybe I'm finally coming down with what everyone else had?"

Rumplestiltskin knew it was no such thing, but rather an unfortunate and unavoidable side effect of her memories slow return. Last night she had woken him in the throes of a nightmare about Regina, clinging to him and not letting him go until she finally went back to sleep. "I can take the day. You are much more important," he told her honestly.

In the end, though, she would not be swayed. "I'm only going to sleep and there is certainly no need for you to stay and watch." Finally, rather than argue with her when she was hurting, he made her some tea and toast, before calling Dove to come and keep an eye on the house. He was almost certain that Regina wouldn't try anything, but only almost.

Then there were the other considerations. He wanted to see firsthand how things were going in town. Graham's call last night had only slightly surprised him. The return of certain items from the old world, when combined with an excess of alcohol, was bound to bring some of those blocks down. The interesting part was going to be seeing where things went today. He was also just a little curious to see if Regina was noticing. Of course, if she realised that Belle was not with him, he had no doubt that she would come by the shop. In fact, he was tempted to make certain she knew. The confrontation was coming, he knew that. The question was only, when.

 

David Nolan walked down the street, hurrying for his car. Old Mrs. Hubbard's dog was loose, again, and Graham had asked him if he could handle it. It was really more in his line anyway, and it was far from the first time. The county prosecutor was walking towards him, paying little attention to where he was going as he looked at his phone.

They collided on the sidewalk, barely managing not to knock each other over. "Watch..." Albert Spencer started before he looked at the young man. "James?" he asked.

"No, sir, David, David Nolan, remember, from the animal shelter? Are you feeling okay?" he asked, wondering briefly if the man was having a stroke or a heart attack or something. He certainly looked a little disoriented.

"Fine, yes, of course. Sorry, for a moment you looked...Like someone else, someone I've not seen in a long time. Must be the light," Spencer said, and wandered off with a distracted look on his face. David shrugged and headed for his car. That dog wasn't going to catch itself.

 _He looks like James, he looks like your son_ , the thought chased Albert Spencer as he got to his office. _What's wrong with me? I have no son, never did_. But the strange image wouldn't go away.

 

The feeling of unease was even stronger today. Regina knew something was wrong and she needed to figure out what it was and soon. First, Graham had left last night, to handle a bar fight at the Rabbit Hole, not that there was anything too unusual in that, only that it rarely got as far as calling the sheriff. But the timing was bothering her. She had seen a number of things that weren't exactly strange, but weren't normal either. Add to that, Cora was looking at her oddly.

Of course that could be that she was still upset about their conversation last night, or rather the conversation she had avoided having with her daughter. Or it could be because she had taken her bad mood out on Cora this morning, snapping at her when she was a little slow with her breakfast.

She dropped her daughter off at school and started the drive to her office. As she passed the pawnshop, Regina saw Gold getting out of the big black Cadillac and heading toward the door. _Interesting_ , _he's alone_ , she thought. For just a second she thought about sending someone to his home. After all, the provisions prevented _her_ from going after the girl, not someone acting for her. However, she discarded the idea. There was no chance in this or any other world that the imp had left her alone and unguarded.

 _No, perhaps this is the chance I need to talk to him alone, woman to imp_ , she thought. _If I can find out what it is he wants, we will be getting somewhere. As soon as I figure out what to say_. Regina continued towards the office for some serious thinking. It was never a good idea to approach Rumplestiltskin without a plan, ideally, two or three.

 

Watching from the top floor of the stone mansion on the hill, the madman kept an eye on the comings and goings of the town below. So close, he knew it, he could feel it. While he was not a full magical practitioner in any sense of the word, more of a specialist, still, he could sense it, the energy stretching, buzzing like static on the phone lines. He felt as if touching anything magical would give off a spark, like electricity. The image was almost funny and he could feel his hold on the hear and now starting to slip. Ruthlessly, he held on. It was too close, too important, and he needed to keep his wits about him and keep watching.

Turning his telescope, he watched Rumple get out at the shop, and Regina driving by slowly. Belle was not with him, so Her Evilness could actually come to see the sorcerer. It was a trap, of course, or rather it had the potential to become one, depending on what it was the queen wanted and whether she managed not to piss off Rumplestiltskin too badly. Personally, Jefferson leaned towards trap, since the chances of the second were exactly the same as surviving a crochet match with the Queen of Hearts. _Like mother, like daughter_.

 

Rumplestiltskin had seen Regina driving past. _Good, the Evil Queen knows I'm at home to guests, or at least business propositions_. But he had a lot of things to take care of, including exactly when to let Jefferson go back into the vault to retrieve what was his, and perhaps a bit of burglary. Timing was everything, after all. It had to be done before the curse was broken, because after, they'd not get the chance. Besides, there were one or two nasty surprises he wanted to take away from her.

Once the curse was broken they would still be in the land of very little magic, at least until he figured out a way to fix that. The princess' early awakening had its good and bad sides, but items still held magic, and without the curse in effect, they would be much more powerful, as most of the residual magic would not be tied up with it.

With those thoughts in mind he started to plan. When he'd finished, and was satisfied, he turned to the telephone and made three calls. To the last one, he simply said, 'Be ready.'

 

By afternoon, Regina knew for a fact that Rumplestiltskin was moving against her, or at least she was close to positive. She had been walking back to her office, when Sidney Glass had pulled up besides her. She stopped and leaned down to speak to her loyal magic mirror.

"I'm doing a story on the fight at the Rabbit Hole. Can I get an official comment from the Mayor's office?" he asked happily. Nothing, or few things anyway, made him happier than an actual news story.

"The Rabbit Hole has long been a blight on our fair community and should have been..." Then she saw it, the brass lamp. "What...where did you get that?" she asked faintly.

Sidney, who had been taking her quote down, took a moment to change tracks. "That? Oh, I found it in the trash bin when I went to take the garbage out. It's pretty enough, I thought I would clean it up. It'll look good on my desk. So, about the Rabbit Hole?"

"What?" Regina asked, distracted. _Can't act as if anything is out of order_ , she reminded herself. "Oh yes, that place should have been shut down years ago. I'm going to check and see if there is anything in the city ordinances that can be used to finally close it down."

"Should I ask Gold?" Sidney inquired.

"Gold, why..."

"About what legal strategy you will be using," he continued. "Regina, are you feeling all right?"

"Just a little headache," she told him. "And not yet. I have not had time to consult with the...man first. I'm just going to give him a call right now." She smiled and left Sidney taking notes over the steering wheel of his car.

 

When the phone in the pawnshop rang early in the afternoon, Rumplestiltskin was not surprised. "Regina, to what do I owe the dubious honour?"

"We need to talk. I know what you are doing," she said urgently.

"And what's that, dearie?" he asked. "Be specific, I have several projects going at the moment."

"How did Sidney Glass end up with his lamp? And how many other things have you released into Storybrooke? You are trying to break the curse, and I..." she accused.

"You'll what?" he asked coldly. "Are you threatening me, dearie?" Regina realised she had stepped right into it. Threats had never been effective with him, unless the actual goal was an early grave. It was definitely time to change tactics.

"Not at all," she said, backing down carefully. "But we should talk about this, in person. Surely there is something you want?" she asked.

"Perhaps," he said after a long pause. "You may come by the shop. Belle is not here with me, as you well know, or you'd not be suggesting it."

"I will come by before I go to pick up Cora," Regina said. Inwardly she heaved a sigh of relief. If he was willing to talk, he was willing to deal, which meant that there was something he wanted. He always said that when two people each had something the other one wanted, a deal could always be struck.

"Good, and Regina, come alone. _Please_. And should you get the idea to send someone for Belle, Dove has orders to shoot to kill. He's an excellent shot, so it best be someone you want to see in the ground." He hung up the phone with a click.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of you still reading, and please, you know what to do...Comments help the story along.


	23. Shatter

Graham pulled the police cruiser up outside of the Mayor's office and took a deep breath. He understood the plan, he even agreed. That did _not_ help.

' _Think of it this way, if all goes to plan, the curse will be broken. It cannot take much more strain. Young Emma is on the edge.'_

_'And if it doesn't?' he asked. It wasn't as if the sorcerer's body was on the line, so to speak._

_'Hope for another fight at the Rabbit Hole?' Gold suggested. "Huntsman, if this doesn't work, she will know soon enough that you are free, and shortly thereafter, that she no longer has your heart. If this doesn't work, as close as we are, it is your decision. It won't matter after, or not in any real way._ '

 _That is only somewhat reassuring_ , he thought as he ran a hand through his hair, took a last look in the rearview mirror, and opened the car door.

He had never gone to Regina without her calling for him, not in _that_ capacity certainly, but there was nothing odd about him going as sheriff to brief her on the fight. After last night's aborted...tryst, Rumplestiltskin was counting on his presence to distract her, and keep her in the office.

' _You only need keep her there until she is supposed to come and see me. I need to have her out of the way and under supervision.'_

The advantage of the office was that she would surely keep things professional, or at least for the most part. _You can break down after the curse is broken_ , he told himself. The only thing preventing it, the only saving grace to this entire sick situation at the moment was that, without his heart, Graham had only a limited ability to feel anything. When the curse broke, and his heart was once again back where it belonged, well, he could worry about that later.

To keep his nerves from getting the best of him, he got out of the car and approached the door. _Best to get started_.

 

In the back room of the pawnshop, the other two conspirators had gathered to get their last minute directions and marching orders. "All the things you need are here," Rumplestiltskin told them as he handed the satchel over. "Make sure you get _everything_."

"Perhaps I should go..." August started.

"No," the sorcerer said in a voice that brooked no opposition. "Jefferson has experience with magic and knows more about what he's looking for, where you, lad _are_ , to all intents and purposes, magical, having been created from magic. There is also a possibility that this little plan will break the curse once and for all. I have no idea what effect it will have. It's fairy magic that makes you real, and it is not...comparable with my nature. You will be the lookout only."

"And Regina?" the young man asked.

"Yes, where is her Royal Wickedness?" Jefferson asked, speaking for the first time. With the current situation, all his concentration was busy spent on keeping his wits from wandering.

"Suffice it to say, I have arranged for her to be...distracted, until it is time for her to meet with me. She will be accounted for. Go, I can give you almost an hour. After that..."

The two men nodded and hurried out the door. Graham should be at the Mayor's office now. He would keep Regina busy long enough that she would have to come directly to the shop, or risk being late to pick up Emma. Rumplestiltskin truly hated asking the lad to do it, but he needed her to stay put until she came to the shop and giving them time to handle that little spot of burglary. Now, he simply needed to wait a little while longer. He could feel the strands tightening.

  

Graham entered the office with what he hoped looked like confidence. "Gr...Sheriff," Regina greeted him with a smile. She seemed a little distracted, but if he didn't know better, he would think she was actually glad to see him. Of course that would also assume that she saw him as more than...well, they were hardly lovers in any _real_ sense of the word. "Come in and close the door behind you." He paused and then did as she asked. The click of the lock was louder and, to his way of thinking, more ominous than it should be. "So, tell me what brings you here?" she asked with a smile that was probably meant to be seductive.

"I came to brief you about that fight. You had not called, and I was right here," he told her.

"The fight, yes," she said as if she was only just remembering. "It's been a difficult day. I've had a bit of a headache and I have to meet with Gold in a little while. But perhaps you could help me?" she suggested, gesturing for him to come to her. This was familiar territory, and hardly the first time she'd asked him to get the knots out. Besides, it wasn't something that would look too bad if they were caught.

"Gold?" he asked, taking his place behind her and reaching out to rub her shoulders. Graham could feel her relaxing, and wondered, just briefly what would happen...after all, he was so close, and it would be so very easy. But could he really do it? Kill her in cold blood, even after all that she had done to him, and to others? No, he decided. He had never been a killer. Oh, he'd hunted, for food, and occasionally he'd had to put an animal out of its misery. He'd fought for Regina, albeit unwillingly. But always he'd avoided killing unless there was no way out of it. But to do this would make him no better than she was. He focused back on the task.

"Gold, yes, I'm going to..." she paused as the stiffness started to fade and she looked for a plausible excuse. "Town ordinances, I want him to help me find something to close down the Rabbit Hole. The place is a nuisance."

"Ah," he said noncommittally.

"Surely you don't _like_ the place?" Regina asked a little sharply.

"Me? No, I'd not go in there at all if I didn't have to. I was thinking that no one knows the town ordinances the way Gold does. It's almost as if he wrote them."

"Exactly. Thank you," she said, putting a hand on his. "Much better." He stopped and stepped back as Regina rose, swallowing quickly.

When she reached for him, he had only a moment to steel himself, then she was in his arms. Reacting out of habit while trying not to think, he kissed her slowly, hoping that was all she wanted. She was not usually demonstrative where there was a possibility of them being seen. "Now, I have to go and deal with Gold shortly, but perhaps we can try again tonight? Pick up where we left off before we were so rudely interrupted?" she suggested.

"Tonight...yes," Graham said. His mouth went dry and he almost choked on the word, but he managed. "That would be...yes." He didn't know how to respond, so rather than trip over his tongue, he kissed her again. Let her take his submission as agreement. Over her shoulder he could see the clock hands move. Time. He released her. "I should go. There are things that I should take care of if I am to..."

"Of course," Regina said, dismissively, but she was looking at him a little oddly. "Graham, have you found anything recently? Or maybe gotten a gift?"

"Me? No, I don't think so. Why would I? I've not found anything, and as to gifts, well, my birthday is not for a few months. People aren't in the habit of giving random gifts to the sheriff, it could be considered bribery," he told her, trying for a joke.    

"Hmmmm," she acknowledged, looking out the window.

Time to step it up. "Regina, aren't you supposed to meet Gold? I'm assuming you want to do that before you pick up Cora, I know you don't like her to be around him. We...we both should be getting on if we want to be free tonight." He smiled, hoping for sexy, not sickly.

"Ummm, yes," Regina agreed. The smile on her face convinced him he succeeded. "I will see _you_ later." She gave him a quick kiss and he went out with her, handing her into her car.

 _Well, that's my part_ , he thought. _Now it's all up to the princess and Rumplestiltskin_.

 

The sorcerer had no sooner seen the two men off and gone back to the front of the shop than he heard someone coming in the back door. He sighed. That could only be one person, the last person he needed to take their place. He just wished it didn't require so much walking. He tapped his way through the curtain.

 

"Come on, it'll be fine, I promise, he can help," Cora said as she half dragged her friend through the back alleys of Storybrooke towards her destination.

"I can't..." Paige told her, trying to pull back. "He...he scares me," she whispered.

"Trust me," Cora said determinedly. "He'll know the answers." She poked her head out, and, seeing no one, tugged her terrified friend through the back door into the shop. As she closed the door behind her, she heard the familiar step and tap of his cane coming towards them from the other side of the curtain. Paige was trembling and Emma tried to calm her friend as he stepped through into the back.

"Well..." he started before registering the second and frightened girl. "Emma, what have you done?" he asked sharply.

Paige looked up at him, shaking. "I had to do something," the princess snapped back. "She..."

"I... I know you. You and my daddy...why do I know you?" The girl started to sway on her feet, and instantly Rumplestiltskin grabbed her and carried her the two steps to the bed that had last held the sheriff, leaving his cane to clatter to the floor.

"Grace, it's all right, lass," he said softly. "It'll all be fine soon." He turned to Emma. "Put the kettle on," he ordered. "What possessed you to bring her _here_?"

"Well, I had to do _something_. What was wrong with that doll you had me give her? Paige had nightmares and she kept getting distracted in class. We almost got in trouble with Miss Blanchard, only I said she had a headache."

"There is nothing wrong with the doll. But the stronger the connection, the stronger the reaction. Her father made that doll for her."

"Her father, the crazy one?" Emma asked. She knew she was being mean. After all, he was nice enough, kind of sad, really, but definitely a few ants shy of a picnic.

"You could say that. Why do you think he went mad?" the sorcerer said sharply. He had neither the time nor the patience to coddle her. "When Jefferson refused to take a job for Regina, she stole Grace away from him. She promised to return her, after he did it, and give him a reward as well. Of course she had no intention of keeping her word."

"What...what did she do?" Emma whispered. "Did she hurt..."

"She did what evil queens _do_ , dearie. She double crossed him. Regina convinced him to take her to Wonderland. Then she left him there to the not so tender mercies of the Queen of Hearts. When I found out, I took Grace away from her. Her reaction to all this is probably a combination of things, her emotional attachment to the doll and her close friendship with you, the saviour, along with the fact that she knew me before, in the old world, quite well. But we don't have a lot of time, it's..."

The bell in the front of the shop rang out, and Rumplestiltskin cursed in three languages. "Rumple.." the familiar and unwelcome voice brought him to his feet as Emma handed him the fallen cane. He put a finger to his lips and tapped his way toward the curtain.

"Coming, dearie," he said. "Well, aren't we prompt today? I was just making tea."

"Not going to offer me any?" Regina asked.

"Don't try to pretend this is a social call, your Majesty. So shall we get on with it? I have things to do," the sorcerer said, all playfulness gone from his voice.

In the back room, Emma crept silently to the curtain to listen.

"So I am going to guess it is you I have to thank for the things that have been showing up around town? Sidney's lamp, Red's cloak, George's ring, and, since the dwarves took on a couple of my guardsmen and the Sheriff of Nottingham at the Rabbit Hole last night, I'm guessing something of theirs found them."

"Oh, what's the matter, Regina, something disrupt yer perfect little town? Or just upset that the fight prevented you from forcing the sheriff to share your bed?" He was goading her, he knew it, and, while that was a particular subject he'd planned to avoid in front of the princess, it couldn't be helped. He only hoped that she waited a few minutes before doing the eavesdropping which he was absolutely certain she would be at soon.

"Why you..." Regina growled.

"Now, now, your Majesty, didn't your mother ever tell you that making faces will give you wrinkles? But then we're aren't here to discuss your... _proclivities_. The curse is failing, and you and I both know it."

"Thanks to you," she accused. "This is all about your little maid, isn't it?"

"All, no. But let us say, I'm not doing anything to stop it. You want my help to reverse the damage, but really, don't you think it's been long enough? Revenge does not a life make. Maybe..." He had to give her the chance, for the princess. Not that he _liked_ her or anything, but she had done him a good turn, and he hated owing anything.

"Maybe nothing. It will never be enough, not while that sickening little princess and her prince still live. Why should she get her True Love, her perfect life, her happy ending? No, this is _my_ town and _my_ happy ending. I even have their daughter as mine, and nothing is going to stop me. So what is it that you want in exchange for your help?"

Rumplestiltskin looked at her. He almost felt sorry for his former apprentice in that last moment. She had learned nothing. From behind the curtain he heard footsteps. Emma appeared in the opening, tears streaming down her face as she looked at the woman that she had called 'mom' for her entire life.

"Cora, what...why you..." She turned on the sorcerer, fear and shock on her face.

"I wanted to believe it wasn't true. I tried so hard to convince myself that you weren't really a villain, and I hope, maybe one day that it will be true. But for now, what's going to stop you, is me, that's what I'm supposed to do. _I believe_."

In the centre of town, the long silent clock began to chime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, thank you to all of the people who have stayed with me on this long, strange journey. The comments have kept me going on what was really the strangest idea I've ever had, that I can remember. So, to the questions, yes, there is at least one more post to this. Loose ends to clean up and all that. Is there going to be a sequel? Maybe. There are a couple of things that I want to deal with, including the fate of Regina, Emma's awkward relationship with her family, Graham, and not least, Bae. When...that I can't say. Please leave a comment in the little box and tell me what you think.


	24. Broken

As the clock chimed out, the inhabitants of Storybrooke began awakening, as if from a dream.

In the salmon pink Victorian, Belle sat up in bed. Her headache was gone and her memory was clear, finally. Now she had only one thought, to get to Rumplestiltskin. She jumped out of the bed and rushed for the door, only stopping her in headlong rush when she realised she was still in her nightdress.

 

Jefferson had just finished his task and was leaving the evil former Queen's vault when he felt it, like a weight that had been dragging him down snapped free. His mind was clear, remarkably so for him. _You did it_ , he thought with a smile. _It's finally over_.

 

The former madman stepped out into the waning sunlight with a smile on his lips and a spring in his step. "Well, my not so wooden friend..." he started before he realised something was wrong, very wrong. The young man was slumped against the tree he'd been using for cover, looking pale. "August?" he called, running to him. Rumple had said something might happen, but neither of them had really known what. "You'll be all right," he said, dropping down beside him. "I'll get you..."

"If I don't...please tell my papa I love him and that I tried."

"None of that, you'll tell him yourself. I'll get you to Rumplestiltkins. He'll know what to do." But it was too late, the young man had lost consciousness. Jefferson checked his pulse and breathing, and then picked him up with some difficulty, and put him in the car, coming back to collect the last of the fruits of his original mission.

 

Snow White and Prince Charming were clinging to one another in the middle of the street. Graham smiled as he watched them. The clock tower had chimed five times. _I guess magical clocks don't recognise daylight savings time_ , he thought irreverently as he waited for the royal couple to notice him.

"Huntsman, I mean Graham," David addressed him, realising that he was waiting for them. He stepped a little in front of Snow. There was more than a hint of suspicion in his tone, but that was to be expected. It would take time for those that knew.

"There is no need to fear," the sheriff told him. "The queen no longer controls me."

"That's..." he started, smiling, wrapping an arm around his wife as if afraid she would disappear.

"Listen now, I know where your daughter is," Graham told them.

"I...you do? Then Regina didn't..." Snow sputtered, tears starting to run down her cheeks.

"No, she didn't. In fact, you know her. You've known her all her life. Now, come," he urged them. He had known a certain amount about the plan, and since the curse had been broken, he had a good idea where to find them. Besides that, while he was certain that Rumplestiltskin could and would protect Cora if necessary, Regina was still dangerous. He didn't entirely believe that she would try to hurt the girl who she had raised as a daughter, in fact, she might actually love her, as much as she was capable of, still, it was not the time to take chances.

"All her..." Snow was saying, puzzling it out. "Cora," she whispered. They hurried to follow him.

 

Having gotten dressed and taken the stairs at what was probably more speed that she should, considering her track record and clumsiness, Belle burst into the kitchen and was surprised to find someone already there. "Dove," she cried, hugging the big man, who stood still for it. He was not one for affection, but of course, Belle was the exception.

"Lady Belle."

"Dove, I need to go, I need...". The man just nodded and waved her towards the door. They both knew where they needed to be.

 

Inside the pawnshop, the three people listened to the dying chimes of the clock, frozen. Regina's face had a stricken look as if she didn't quite know what to make of anything. "What have you done," she whispered.

"I've broken the curse, Mom, it's what I was _supposed_ to do. But I _still_ love you, really I do...just..." Emma tried, hoping to get through to her. "But what you were doing to everyone was _wrong_."

Regina felt tears try to form, but she held them back with sheer force of will. "You did this," she accused Rumplestiltskin. "All this because of...You've destroyed _everything_ , you've lost me my _daughter_." She looked like she was going to attack him, but the sorcerer held his ground.

"No, I haven't Regina. I've not lost you anything, this is all your doing. But right now, she's still your daughter, she always will be the child you raised.  The rest is up to you. You can keep on as you have, and truly lose her, or you can do what's necessary to keep her." He took one step towards her. "I know you've never been one to listen before," he told her softly. "But this time _listen_ to me, not as a mentor, or a rival, but as a man who lost his son. Nothing, not power, not revenge, nothing can replace the loss of a child. Don't do it, Regina."

"I.." she started.

Behind her, the shop door burst open, setting the bell to jangling. In the doorway, the sheriff, and behind him, Snow and Charming. "Regina," David said moving towards the woman. "Where is our daughter?"

 

For a moment no one said anything. Then everyone, or almost everyone, started talking at once. Rumplestiltskin gave them a moment before pitching his voice to be heard over the din. He needed them sorted and out of his shop so he could get home to Belle, or at least to see if Belle was there. The thought chilled him. Not that he'd blame her, certainly she deserved more than him, more than a broken down sorcerer with a black heart and a bad leg. That would be dealt with, but for now...."Enough." His voice cut through the noise.

"Rumplestiltskin," Snow said in shock.

"The one and only, dearie," he said with a slightly mocking bow. "Now, the question of what happens next needs to be answered and quickly. Like you, I have my own reunion to get on with."

"What are you going to do, arrest me? Graham, surely.." Regina smiled, only to have it fade as the young man looked at her in revulsion.

"I'll be outside when you need me," the sheriff said, before turning his back and leaving. The confusion on the faces of the prince and princess was clear enough, and Cora was looking at her shoes, but Regina looked like the realisation had finally sunk in, and her world was crumbling beneath her.

"What did you expect to happen, Regina?" the sorcerer asked softly. "Now..."

"Now, we need to figure out what is going to be done about Regina, but before that, we need to take our daughter home," Charming started, trying to take charge.

"You? You aren't taking _my_ daughter anywhere, and to..." Regina shot back indignantly.

"She's not _your_ daughter," Snow chimed in, and once again the bickering started. Rumplestiltskin looked at Emma to see what she would do.

"No," the quiet voice of the young girl cut through, and everyone stopped. "I've been thinking about this ever since I knew...well, for a little while anyways. Miss Blanchard, I'm sorry, I mean Mom, I guess, and Dad," the last word was whispered. Until Gold, until all this, she'd never much thought about ever having a father. The reality of the whole thing was still sinking in. "I know you are my parents, my real parents, and at least, Mi...Mom, I've known you all my life, but I don't _know_ know you, not like _real_ parents. I'm..I want to, but I'm just not ready. I'm sorry." Snow White started crying and her husband slipped an arm around her for comfort, but he nodded. Regina smiled. "But Mom, I can't come home with you either." Her face fell. "You've done some really bad things, and yeah, I still love you, I think....well, we've got things to work out."

"But where are you going to go?" David asked.

"You can't just..." Regina tried.

"Who..." the sorcerer began, confused. Not that he'd actually thought about it too much himself. Unfortunately he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach but she couldn't, could she?

"I think... I want to go home with you and Belle, if that's all right. Just for a little while, while I figure some things out."

"Why me?" he asked.

"No, that's..."

The door banged open again setting the little bell to ringing, again. "Rumple, need help," Jefferson said, as he, with the help of Graham, carried the unconscious wooden boy in. The sorcerer cursed, this time adding another language, one long dead.

"Take him...Damn it, your daughter. Jefferson..."

"Grace?"

"I'll help," Emma said.

 "Get her up," Rumple snapped. This was _not_ what he had planned and definitely the last thing he needed right now. "She should be fine now. Charming, make yourself useful, take the huntsman's place. Jefferson, keys."

"In the car," he said as they shifted, and the two men started for the back.

"Regina, stay put. Princess Snow, keep an eye on your stepmother. Sheriff," he said, reaching out to whisper something in the man's ear. "Understand?" The other man nodded and left with only the slightest look at Regina.

From the back room, Rumplestiltskin heard a cry that gladdened his shrivelled heart. "Papa." Grace was awake. But there was still much to do, and he cursed under his breath. He had no time for reunions. Emma came out smiling. He tapped his way ithrough the curtain, around Jefferson, clutching his daughter tight enough that he might well leave bruises, but neither of them seemed to mind, and dropped onto the stool next to the bed.

August had been laid down on the bed. He was breathing, barely, but he was unconscious, and as the old man checked, his joints were starting to turn to wood. "Well, Shepherd," he said to the prince standing confused in the middle of everything. "It's time for you to make yourself useful. Get the Blue Fairy and bring her here, _now_."

"Ah, oh. What if she won't...."

"Then pick the pestilential little bug up and carry her," he snapped. "I do not care how, but this lad was instrumental in helping to break the curse. You owe him. Now _go_!"

"Rumplestiltskin, you brought my papa back," Grace said. She let go of her father and launched herself like a ten year old missile across the small space. If he'd not been sitting, she'd probably have taken him to the ground.

"I'm sorry it took so long," he whispered to her. "Now, why don't you take your papa home. You've got a lot of time to make up for."

Jefferson looked at him. "Are you..."

"I'll tend to this, go." The man nodded and, taking her hand, turned to leave by the back door. He wasn't keen to expose his daughter to the mess in the front room.

Two down, and nothing he could do 'til the bloody Blue Fairy came. He gritted his teeth and rose to return to the front to make sure that if Regina and Snow went for each other, they didn't destroy his shop in the process. It wasn't as if he cared for either of _them_. Then there was the extraordinary proposal of Princess Emma. He needed an answer. He understood what she meant, but the imp wasn't entirely sure that was the way to go. What in the seven realms had led her to suggest that? Not but if Belle decided she didn't want to be with him, he could... Rumplestiltskin pushed all thought of Belle to the back of his mind. He couldn't worry about that now. He was almost through the curtain when he heard the bell. At that exact moment, he wanted nothing more than to have the magic to spend to curse the blasted thing into oblivion. But when he looked, he stopped caring.

"Rumplestiltskin." Belle had arrived.

 

It had taken more time than it probably should, and about half way to the shop, Belle had given serious consideration to walking. The streets were full of people, all hugging, catching up, or trying to figure out what was going on. But Dove had managed, slowly and steadily, to finally make it to the pawnshop. She took off her belt even before the car had stopped and was out the door and into the shop. Ahead of her, standing in the curtain was her True Love. "I remember," she said.

He stepped out from behind the counter, his heart in his throat, oblivious to the two women looking daggers at one another or the scared girl, who looked like she wanted to hide.

"You...you do," he said softly. A moment later, he had an arm full of Belle.

"I remember I love you," she whispered.

"And I love you," he told her, breathing a sigh of relief. It was wrong, and he shouldn't, but he just could not push her away. Everything else could be taken care of, anything, as long as he had Belle by his side.

"How...sickening," Regina commented, intruding on their moment.

"Mom," Emma said. The look on her daughter's face caused her to subside. Belle shivered in Rumple's arms. She'd not noticed the other woman in her hurry.

"Belle, love, I have a few more things to do here. I am going to assume that Dove brought you?" She nodded. "Why don't you get him to take you home?"

"No," she said. He blinked. "I've been without you for too long. I'm staying."

He started to say something, to argue, but the door opened once again. He glared at the bell, as if he could stop it with a look.

"What is all this? How dare..." The Blue Fairy had arrived.

"I dare a great deal, _dearie_ ," he snapped back at her, all sign of the gentleness he'd shown gone as he held his lady behind him.

"Dark One. What do you want?"

"Many things, but as I have no doubt that you want to be here as much as I want you here, let's cut straight to the relevant  bits. Come this way," he said, waving for her to step through into the back room, keeping Belle behind him.

"Why should I trust you?" she asked, looking curiously at the people gathered in the room. He sighed.

"Right now, I have a little problem, or rather, you do. A young man in my back room slowly turning to wood, ring a bell?"

Blue looked to Snow and David and finally, Emma. He could see her calculating her options. Then, with a prissy sigh, she proceeded him. "Belle, why don't you stay with them. Princess Emma has an...interesting proposition you should hear. Shepherd, if you could go outside and tell Dove that I need him to find Geppetto, he'll need to be here." Then, certain that his wishes would be carried out, he followed the fairy. She was standing by the cot, looking down. "Well?" the sorcerer asked.

"Well what? He was given a task as a condition of..."

"Oh, let's not start that, dearie. That was invalid the moment Regina kidnapped the princess. Besides, he did his part. He stayed close and was instrumental in protecting Emma and helping to break the curse. If you don't believe me, you may ask the princess," Rumplestiltskin told him, trying to hold his temper.

"It's not the same thing and you know it," she told him with a superior sniff. "Besides, I have only a limited amount of magic..."

"Let me put it another way, you _will_ do what is needed to correct this."

"Or what? Are you threatening me, Rumplestiltskin?"

"I never threaten, you should know that after all these years. How about this, either you do what I ask, or I will go back to my hobby of hunting fairies for sport. And, do you really think that Snow and her Charming prince will extend you their protection after I tell them of your...betrayal? Fix this, _now_."

He turned on his heel, confident that the suddenly pale fairy would do what he wanted. Now he just needed to get rid of the rest of his unwelcome guests and, gods above and below, figure out what to do with Emma.

 

Rumplestiltskin stepped through the curtain and into an argument. Well, at least Snow and Regina were arguing. David was adding the odd comment, and Belle was standing with Emma, holding her hand reassuringly, which did not bode well for the peace of his reunion.

"You can't make me do that, and who do you think will go against me?"

"All right, dearies, since I would like my shop back some time soon..." he said. Belle took his hand in her other hand, and Emma looked to him for reassurance. Since when was _he_ the person anyone found comfort in? Anyone but Belle? He nodded though.

"August?" Emma asked quietly.

"Taken care of. No need to worry," he whispered, as the argument showed signs of starting up again.

"If you think I'm going to allow myself to be confined in some..."

"House arrest?" Rumplestiltskin pondered. "Of course the other option is the town jail, which is probably safer, considering not a few people out there are probably calling for your blood.  Though it can't be that comfortable, especially with the sheriff waiting right outside." Regina had the good grace to look away. She didn't like that Rumplestiltskin knew her secret, or that it had been said where her daughter could hear. That was the way in. "Look at it this way, Regina..." The door again. Belle squeezed his hand to remind him that losing his temper would not help.

The new arrivals were Geppetto, and Dove. "My boy, he say..." the old wood carver started.

"In the back," Rumplestiltskin said, pointing behind him. _This is a bloody farce_ , he thought angrily. The old man nodded, murmuring his thanks all the way past, Dove behind them. "When the Blue Bug is done, see them all out the _back_ door," he told his faithful servant. The big man just nodded. "Now, before we get interrupted again..." He gave the door a sharp look. "Regina, I want you to listen carefully. Emma, I assume that you want to spend some time with your...ah, adopted mother?"

The girl looked at Regina, then at Snow and David, and nodded carefully. "If she promises to try _not_ to hurt anyone else." He nodded.

"Now, where do you want your daughter visiting you, at home, or in the city jail?"

"Why are you being so helpful?" David asked. He had never known what to make of the imp, despite the fact that his (ten year old, that was going to take getting used to) daughter seemed to have a lot of faith in him, it only helped so much.

"At the moment, because, like the rest of you, I have had that which I love most in the world returned to me and I would like some peace to get on with my happy ending," he told him. Belle squeezed his hand.

"That you..."

"He got his True Love, that's Belle, back, 'cause mom said she was dead, now they'd like to go off and do kissing and stuff," Emma summarised. "Mom, Regina, I mean," she clarified as both women looked at her. "I'll come to the house with you, if it'll make it better." The offer was quietly made, and Regina seemed to be calmed by it. Not that Rumplestitlskin had any illusions. If Regina wasn't already planning how to double cross them if she could do it while avoiding the lynch mob that was probably forming in the street, or would be when everyone was done with their reunions, without losing her daughter, she would be soon. But perhaps not. His former apprentice seemed to genuinely love the girl. Interesting how one act of even getting might lead to Regina's shot at redemption.

"Oh, very well," Regina said. Still, the imp could see the glint in the back of her eyes. The fight wasn't quite gone out of her yet. of course, sooner or later, she was going to make her move, either attempting to order Graham, or make for her vault, but that wasn't his problem, nor was protecting her from the citizens of Storybrooke.

"Why don't you have dinner with us, then," Snow asked her daughter. She seemed to be taking Emma's wishes seriously at least for the moment. Maybe she was remembering what it had been like when her life had been turned upside down. Or maybe she was thinking that she would like to have her husband to herself for a while, either way it had the same effect.  Certainly, the sorcerer didn't believe she had given up, even now, on redeeming her stepmother. _Perhaps_ , he thought, looking at his own redemption standing between him and Emma, _together they might succeed_.

The girl looked at them seriously. "Okay. Then you can take me to Mr. Gold's house. Besides it will give him and Belle some time for that kissing stuff."

"And what makes you think _I_ agree with your proposal, princess?" the sorcerer asked. He was wondering where he'd lost control and when he'd agreed to be responsible for the wretched girl.

"Rumple," Belle said. Oh, yes, that was where. Emma gave him a triumphant look, but at the moment it didn't bother him too much.

"Very well," he acquiesced with as good a grace as he could. He heard the back door open and close, and knew that his other problem was dealt with. He raised Belle's hand to his lips, and kissed it. The slightly green look on Regina's face made him smile a little more.

Shortly after, the Charmings, Regina, and Princess Emma/Cora (and really, the child was going to have to pick a name soon) left the shop. "And what of you, what do you want, Belle?" he asked, when they were finally alone.

"I want to go home with the man I love. We have much to talk about," she told him. There was a thought that concerned him. How would she feel after he told her all? But his Belle, ever perceptive, knew that look. She knew him so well. "I love you, no matter what you tell me," she promised. "And then perhaps we can move on to some of that 'kissing stuff'?"

"As my lady wishes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is the final chapter of this story. I hope everyone enjoyed it. There may or may not be a sequel or a couple of one shots, because despite the loose end clean up, there are still things to be settled, not the least of which is the fate of Regina, Graham's heart, and of course, how they are going to get Bae back. I'm never one to close the door completely on a story. If you liked what I have done, please remember to leave a comment in the little box.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I had the idea and I wrote it and that was that. Unfortunately, the story had other ideas. Please enjoy, comment all those things.


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